Kingdom Souls
by Dayd111
Summary: Jaden Yuki and his friends' lives are torn apart in a single night, when their island is destroyed by the Soulless. Now Jaden must find Zane and Alexis by going through different worlds, with Looney Tunes characters, and armed with a mysterious key.
1. The Character List

**THIS IS MY KINGDOM HEARTS (YU-GI-OH) (HANNA-BARBARA/LOONEY TUNES) VERSION**

**I have decided to create my own version of Kingdom Hearts. I have decided to use the cast from Yu-Gi-Oh and Yu-Gi-Oh GX and mix it up with characters from the Hannah-Barbara, Looney Tunes and Warner Bros Inc. Down below is the cast list of characters you will see as the story progresses.**

Sora- Jaden Yuki

Kairi- Alexis Rhodes

Riku- Zane Truesdale

Goofy- Porky Pig

Donald- Daffy Duck

The King- Bugs Bunny

Leon- Joey Wheeler

Cid- Thristan Taylor

Yuffie- Tea Gardner

Aerith- Serenity Wheeler

Merlin- Simon Muran

Ansem- Solomon

Maleficent- Yubel

* * *

><p><strong><em>This is my first fan fic, so wish me luck.<em>**


	2. Chapter I: Dive Into The Soul

**Chapter I: Dive Into The Soul**

_"Nothing is real..."_

"I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real? Or Not?"

A young boy floated through darkness, his body weightless. He had chestnut hair, wore a black shirt covered by a red jacket, he wore white jeans and on his feet were red shoes. This was Jaden Yuki.

Slowly, but gaining speed quickly, Jaden began to sink through what appeared to be dark water. Suddenly he stopped and opened his brown eyes, finding himself on a beach. The sun blazed down, forcing him to squint to see the other, new boy standing knee-deep in the clear, bright blue water in front of him. This new boy had long dark blue hair and a white jacket crossed with two straps in the middle, he also wore simple jeans. This was Zane Truesdale.

Zane had his back turned to Jaden and seemed to be watching a giant wave form farther out in the ocean. As the wave approached, Zane turned calmly turned to Jaden and reached out his hand. His turquoise irises, occasionally blocked by dark blue bangs, met Jaden's brown ones, inviting him out into the ocean. Jaden stepped forward and felt his shoe land in water. The urge to run out and meet Zane and the wave began to form in his mind and push him forward. Zane's hand still stretched out, unmoving. He showed no sign of knowing about the wave behind him. Jaden began to sprint through the water with all his might, trying to reach Zane before the wave did. Just as Zane was in spitting's distance, the wave crashed down, sending Jaden flying back, head-over-heels. When the tumbling stopped, Jaden found himself completely underwater. Zane floated a few feet away, arm outstretched. Completely unperturbed. Jaden moved through the water, trying to reach Zane, but a strong current flowed past his friend and shoved the chestnut-haired boy back mercilessly. Jaden attempted to fight it, but the current was too strong.

Jaden felt himself moving upwards and soon broke the surface of the water. It was now evening and the sun was setting behind him, sending off rays of red and pink light to paint the clouds. He heard a voice call to him from the shore and he looked over to see a young girl about his age waving to him. She had long, peach hair and grey eyes. She wore a sleeveless white shirt, blue skirt and a pair of blue boots. She was smiling. This was Alexis Rhodes.

Jaden waved back and began trudging to shore. When he reached it, he leaned on his knees to catch his breath. Oddly, he was tired. Alexis giggled at his being out of breath in so short a time. Suddenly, something above and behind Jaden caught Alexis's attention and her jaw dropped. Jaden straightened and looked up. Meteors were falling. He was wondering what Alexis had found so odd about them, when he noticed that one of the falling objects was definitely not a meteor. He looked back at Alexis to see her still staring at said object, mouth covered in shock. Jaden turned back and looked closer. Whatever it was it was coming toward them-

It was him.

Jaden couldn't say anything, just staring. What does one think when you see yourself falling from the sky?

It was at this moment that Jaden lost all sensation of the ground and felt himself begin to fall. Alexis looked away from the Meteor Shower and stepped back in surprise as Jaden began to flail. She reached out a hand to grab him, but by then it was too late. Jaden was falling through the ground and into the sky. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Alexis looking down after him, then disappearing in a ripple; like someone had thrown a stone into the water of the sky.

Jaden felt the sensation of wind rushing past him, and the his body passing through water. He hadn't felt when he entered the water, there was no transition from the air to the liquid. After a small while, Jaden felt his body righting itself and felt his feet touch down on something. His eyes snapped open and he found he was standing atop a huge, circular green stain-glass mural. There appeared to be a woman portrayed in the center of the glass. Jaden looked around for something, for anything, but there was nothing but darkness on all sides.

Suddenly, he heard something. A voice.

A voice in the Darkness.

"So much to do...so little time..."

Jaden spun around, looking for the source of the voice. It was deep, yet it was light. It was hearty and yet soft. It was kind, yet hard. It was ground-shaking, yet it was as quiet as the whisper on a late summer's evening.

"Take your time, don't be afraid," the voice from nothing continued.

What was he doing here? Where was this voice coming from?

"The Door is still shut"

What? What door?

A light began to shine from above and he walked out into it's clarity.

"A power sleeps within you."

Within...him? What was happe-

Before his thought could be finished, the green stain-glass crumbled below him and he fell, and fell and fell.

He could have fallen for hours or it could've been just minutes. But the boy finally crashed into another stain-glass platform, this one with a purple-blue hue and another woman shown in the middle.

"There will be times when you have to fight." the voice spoke.

Him? Fight what?

"You must keep your light burning strong"

No sooner had the voice finished speaking than shadows began appearing on the purple glass. The Black of the shadows oddly fit well with the dark coloring of the stain glass.

The shadows began to grow, and as Jaden looked on in surprise and horror, they took 3D forms as small beings with bright, glowing yellow eyes. Their heads jerked around every few seconds, like one is prone to do when they smell something particularly delicious.

Jaden closed his eyes and braced himself for an attack, but he felt something heavy materialize in his hands. He blinked open his eyes and in a split-second found that he now had a sword in his hand. He held it up firmly and slashes at a leaping shadow. It disappeared in a puff of black smoke. The rest of the beings disappeared as well, unprepared for prey with weapons.

Jaden didn't have long to revel in his "victory" because the blue on the floor slowly was turning to darkness and the darkness was sucking him in. He began to struggle against it, but it seemed to be choking him. It felt like struggling to prevent drowning. He wondered if he could drown in darkness?

But as soon as he began to move around, he found himself laying on another platform. A red-pink coloring was displayed on this one and yet another woman in the center. He noticed that the sword was gone.

Across the platform, a white colored door appeared, about twice the height of Jaden.

He made his way warily over to it, and upon opening it, found himself bathed in blinding-white light.

The Voice returned.

"The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."

Jaden found himself walking onto a red and yellow platform, with thorns etched into the stain glass. Another woman was portrayed in the middle of it. Mere moments after entering, more Shadows appeared.

Jaden's eyes widened, wondering why they were back. He took a ready stance that he had learned from-

Oddly enough, he did not remember who.

Who was he again?

The sword reappeared without any call.

The shadows charged at him and he charged to meet them. A few hacks and slashes later, all the shadows had dissipated into black smoke.

He turned to find a staircase of multicolored stain-glass that had not been there before. He followed it's direction with his eyes and found that it led to another platform higher up. A yellow one this time. Curious, he began to climb.

Upon reaching the yellow platform, the voice returned.

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes."

Jaden looked behind him and found, just as he was expecting, his shadow had grown longer.

Perfectly normal when one is standing close to light.

But then his shadow began to grow, and stand up; taking form. This surprised and scared Jaden, who knew that this definitely was not normal behavior for one's shadow.

The voice, seeming to sense his worry, continued.

"But don't be afraid."

Jaden continued to step back, and the shadow continued to grow taller and change.

"And don't forget..."

Jaden finally broke and turned to run, but found that the platform wasn't nearly as big as he'd thought, just catching himself before tumbling over into nothingness. The shadow was now at least ten times his size. It had glowing yellow eyes, and long black tentacles where hair should've been. But, by far, the most prominent feature on this behemoth was a huge eye-shaped hole right through its torso.

Jaden expected the voice to continue, to give him some sage advice or to tell him how to proceed, or to at least tell him what not to forget, but the voice remained silent. The monstrosity lifted it's fist and brought it down toward the boy.

Jaden, now knowing he was on his own, turned and ran to his left to escape. Just when he thought he had escaped the falling fist, a shock-wave shook the ground beneath him and threw him off his feet. When he had stood back up, he saw that the same sword from earlier had found it's way to his hand.

Given a bit of new courage by the sword, the boy charged through the puddle of darkness about the hand and began to slash at it.

The monster, seemingly tired of his hand being attacked, leaned back away from Jaden. Wary, Jaden stood back and watched. A swirling black and purple light began to shine from the eye-shaped hole in the monster's abdomen, and while Jaden tried to figure out what this meant, large comets of black and purple energy flew forth from the swirling light and bee-lined straight for him.

Jaden began to dodge the lights, back and forth, knowing that it would not be a good time for him if they made contact. In his peripheral vision, he noticed that the monster's hand was close enough to the ground to try and assault. Maybe he could-

Unable to speak, Jaden's mind screamed as one of the projectiles took advantage of his distraction and slammed into his back. He felt sheer cold spread down his spine, and from there to the rest of his body.

Maybe he should just focus on dodging the flying darkness beams...

The monster, deeming it was a fine time to try smashing Jaden again, brought it's fist high into the air and down toward him. Or at least where Jaden used to be standing.

Jaden had dodged out of the way just in time and, using the time allotted by the monster when it brought it's fist up, prepared himself for what was coming.

The moment the shadow beast's fist struck the ground, Jaden made a jump toward the hand and brought the sword down heavily upon the pillar-like giant howled in pain as it's hand separated from it's body in a puff of smoke. It swung the stubbed arm into Jaden, sending him tumbling away. The sword disappeared from the boy's hand.

Well this wasn't good.

At this time, Jaden thought that he couldn't have any more problems than he already did. Lost somewhere in this darkness, not remembering much about himself, and being attacked by this monster. Not a good day. But just as he finished thinking this, the floor turned to darkness and began pulling him in. He guessed he was wrong.

"-But don't be afraid."

The Voice.

The monster reared up for a final strike, darkness oozing from it like blood.

"You hold the mightiest weapon of all"

Jaden continued to be sucked down. Both his legs and one of his arms had disappeared.

"So don't forget:"

The monster's swing came down just as Jaden's vision was covered by darkness. He saw nothing more. No monster, no swords, no platforms and no shadows.

Just restful darkness.

"You are the one who will open the door."


	3. Chapter II: Duel Academy, Day I

**Chapter II: Duel Academy, Day I**

_"Over the sea, lies the truth..."_

The gloriously shining sun beamed down upon the Duel Academy Island. The sky was clear and the ocean was as warm and bright blue as ever.

Jaden slowly blinked open his cerulean eyes and sat up, beginning to visually comb the area about him. Content that he was still safe on the beach, with no one in his field of vision, he gave a mighty yawn and laid back down to return into dreamland.

As his head lay back down on the sand, cupped by his hands, he noticed that the sky above him was no longer blue with wispy clouds rolling along, but that his view was blocked by a head of long honey hair and two grey eyes. Two beautiful grey eyes. Surprised, Jaden jumped to his feet.

Alexis, content with having surprised Jaden, giggled and smiled at him. Jaden groaned and leaned back on the sand. Jaden felt, oddly, happy and warm at her giggle. He ignored the feeling for now.

"Gimme a break, Alexis!"

Alexis plopped her petite frame down next to him. "Jaden, you lazy slifer slacker!" she said, using her favorite nickname for him. "I knew that I'd find you snoozing down here!"

"No! This huge, black THING swallowed me up!" Jaden suddenly said, bits and pieces of his dream floating back to him. Jaden saw Alexis roll her eyes at him, but he had to come up with a reason why he wasn't helping the raft. He pressed on. "I couldn't breathe...I couldn't—OW!" Jaden yelped as Alexis's hand connected playfully with his skull.

"Are you still dreaming?" Alexis asked, obviously seeing through what she though was an excuse.

"It wasn't a dream!" Jaden said emphatically. Then less so. "Or was it? I-I dunno..."

Jaden continued to mumble to himself. What had that dream been about? That..was it a voice? And those shadows? What did it all mean?

"What was that place? So bizzare..." Jaden looked out at the ocean. He had begun to fancy that it would be a good idea to think on this some more. Perhaps even sleep on it. That would be great-

Alexis looked at her friend wryly and shook her head knowingly. "Yeah, sure Jaden. If you say so." she looked out at the ocean with him. A screeching seagull flew overhead.

Jaaden knew that he couldn't go to sleep now, not with Alexis right there. So he scrambled to continue the conversation. "Say Alexis, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?" Jaden already knew the answer, but he had said the first, well, actually, the second thing that had come to his head.

"I told you before, I don't remember." she replied.

"Nothing...at all?" Jaden prodded.

"Nothing."

Jaden, being her one of her best friends, could only just detect the smallest tinge of regret evident in her reply of 'Nothing'.

"You ever want to go back?"

"Hmmm..." Alexis contemplated. "Well, I'm happy here"

"Really..." was Jaden's only reply.

"But you know," Alexis volunteered with just the slightest bit of wistfulness, "I wouldn't mind going to see it."

"I'd like to see it too!" Jaden agreed with Alexis, "Along with any other dimensions out there! I wan to see 'em all!"

Alexis looked at him, "So what are we waiting for?"

Jaden groaned as she realized she was referencing the raft again. They'd been working on it all summer! Couldn't he just get a little rest?

"Hey, aren't you kids forgetting about me?" A new voice intoned, feigning hurt.

Jaden knew before turning that this new voice belonged to his rival Zane. The older brother of Syrus Truesdale.

And sure enough, he turned to find Zane, dark blue hair and shaded-turquoise eyes, log slung over his arm, walking towards them.

"So, I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." he continued as he sat down next to Alexis, throwing the log he had been carrying in Zane's general direction.

"Oof!" was the only sound Jaden made as the log crashed into him and knocked him back onto the sand. He groaned and Alexis giggled.

"And you're just as lazy as he is!" Zane sighed.

"Heh, so you noticed..." Alexis allowed, slightly embarrassed. "Okay! We'll finish it together!" she continued excitedly. "I'll race you!"

"Huh?" Jaden asked tiredly, knowing that if Alexis pushed on with wanting to race, he would have no choice but to get up and do so.

Zane, getting the message as well, agreed, "What, are you kidding?"

Alexis, knowing the competitive nature of her two best friends, ignored them."Ready? Go!"

Jaden and Zane stared at each other for a few moments, mutually agreeing to just sit and be lazy. That lasted a whole five seconds.

Jaden and Zane both jumped to their feet and took off toward the other side of the Duel Academy, dead set on reaching it before the other. Alexis began to follow along behind, chuckling about the competitive nature of her two dear friends.

Alexis, being slower than both Zane and Jaden, fell to a wallas they raced on ahead. Her mind drifted back to her conversation with Jaden. She had no memory of her home. She'd arrived at the City of Domino at the age of seven, remembering nothing of her home. She had become fast friends with Jaden, Zane and many others. They had made this her home, welcoming her with open arms.

And even though no one knew where she was from, this was now her home. Here, with Jaden, her mind lingered briefly on his face, smiling that goofy smile of his, and Zane. With Hassleberry, and Syrus and Chazz. The races, the raft, the water, the beaches, the sun...all of this was her home. This world.

Duel Academy.

Jaden and Zane eventually turned, jogging backwards now, and yelled questions to Alexis about what supplies they would need to gather for the raft. She WAS the academic one, after all. She'd know what they needed.

"Hey Alexis? What was it we need for the raft again?" Jaden inquired for them both.

Alexis rolled her eyes at her friends' forgetfulness, and began to tick off items in her head, "Four logs, Two pieces of cloth, and two ropes. That's what we need to get first."

"Hmmm, okay." Both Jaden and Zane turned back and put on an extra burst of speed to beat each other to where the raft was beached.

Alexis sped up in surprise and yelled after them, "Well? Aren't either of you going to get that stuff?"

"I haven't beaten him yet!" came Zane's reply.

"Hey! You're not going to beat me!" Jaden retorted.

Alexis sighed. She knew what was coming. And, just as she'd predicted, a soft thunk was heard. As she rounded the bend, she found Jaden and Zane both rolling around in the sand, trying to force the other to submit.

Alexis knew well enough that there was only one way to end this. She simply walked past them, leaned up against the door and cleared her throat.

Both boys looked up in surprise to see that Alexis had beaten them both to the other side. They slowly looked back at each other and shrugged, standing up and dusting off.

"Now," Alexis said, "Will you two go and find those supplies we need?"

"Half and half?" Jaden asked Zane.

Zane nodded, "Race?"

"Of course"

And before Alexis could say anything more, they were gone again. Well, except for Jaden, who Zane had playfully shoved into the water. He stood back up, water dripping off him, gave Alexis a small smile and took off like a shot to find all the items before Zane.

Alexis sighed and shook her head at her two friends antics, then sat down to await their return.

She might as well begin working on that Thessalia Shell charm...

Jaden knew Duel Academy like the back of his hand, so he didn't dawdle at all while searching for the

needed supplies for the Raft.

Zane had told him and Alexis that this raft could take them to other worlds. It had been their summer-long project. School was scheduled to start in two weeks, and Zane said that he wanted to be able to sail away before "that day," as he called it.

Jaden knew that while he had a want to see many other dimensions, mostly from Zane's boundless enthusiasm of such an idea, he was quite content to lay on his beach and just live. Alexis was just fine with where she was as well, which had always been a point of wonderment for Jaden and Zane. Alexis knew that she came from a place other than Duel Academy, yet she was perfectly content in her adopted home. She had said she wouldn't mind going to see her home, but Jaden still knew that she was almost perfectly content on the Island.

He grinned wider as he took a cloth off the wall of the Seaside Shack, remembering that from that night on he had felt this odd need to protect Alexis. Perhaps it came from originally rescuing her from the drowning? It was this really bizarre feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever she was around, this warmth that made him feel on top of the world. He didn't understand what it meant at all. Recently, he had been feeling this more and more. He had no idea what was happening to him.

He sighed and, seeing that he had found his half of the supplies, began to make his way back to where Alexis was waiting.

Jaden was close to where the Raft was beached when he caught sight of Zane sitting on the Paopu Tree, out on the small islet just off Duel Academy. It was then that he remembered he was supposed to be in a race with Zane.

He placed his small stack of items beside him and made his way over to where Zane sat

"Heh, took you long enough to get all the stuff." Zane pointed out, smirking.

"Yeah, I know...I had some stuff I was thinking about...I got distracted" Jaden mumbled.

Alexis' smiled widened.

"And I know exactly what YOU were thinking about!" He chuckled.

"Oh yeah? Well why don't you tell me?" Jaden challenged.

"Maybe...if you can beat me..." Zane challenged right back.

Jaden puffed out his chest." At what? I could beat you at anything"

"Except, apparently, a race."

"Uh, yeah...well..." Jaden rubbed the back of his of his neck, "What am I going to beat you at now?"

"What do you think? We're going to fight, of course." Zane said as he tossed Jaden one of the wooden swords they played with.

"You're on!" Jaden said, already planning Zane's defeat.

Zane just smiled and jumped at him. Jaden brought up his sword and successfully blocked Zane's assault, he spun out of the way and made to attack Zane's side. Zane saw this coming, and expertly blocked it. Jaden then moved to attack from behind, and Zane turned to block this as well, but Jaden, at the last moment, turned his sword to attack from above. Not expecting this, Zane had to sacrifice his footing to block Jaden's blow, or risk getting a rather nasty bump on his head.

Not that he couldn't take it, they had sustained much worse damages then that from their past duels.

Jaden, seeing Zane's lax footing, took advantage of it and swept Zane to the ground. Jaden pointed his sword down at Zane's chest.

"I win!"

Zane humphed rolled back, and performed an expert kick-up, his signature move, into Jaden's gut.

Jaden stumbled backwards onto his hands and knees, attempting to catch his breath. He held his hand up, signaling that Zane had gotten him.

"Man, that's..." he wheezed, "Such a...cheap move..." Jaden continued to breathe deeply, "Gah, now the score...is...42 to 41!"

"Wow, we've dueled that much just this summer?" Zane's eyebrows rose.

Jaden just nodded, unable to summon enough breath to affirm it.

Zane pulled Jaden to his feet and, patting him on the back, reminded him that he still had to take his supplies to the still-waiting Alexis.

"Well, Jaden, it's almost dinner time and I think it goes without saying that Zane won that race..." Alexis teased as Jaden and Zane approached.

"Only...because... Zane pushed me..." Jaden continued to wheeze.

Alexis looked concernedly at Jaden and turned to Zane,

"Okay, what you do?" she asked him, finger pointed at Zane's face menacingly.

"Me? Alexis, we just had a friendly duel!" he raised his hands in defense. "And...Jaden lost..." he lamely finished.

Alexis looked back and forth at her two best friends and sighed.

The three friends were sitting on the Paopu Tree, their favorite place to hang out, watching the sun set before they went home to dinner. The colors of the sunset reflected in the water, giving it a reddish hue. The clouds glowed orange and yellow with the sun's final rays.

Jaden and Alexis were sitting up on the tree's trunk, which grew horizontally across the small islet, and Zane, by the very nature of being Zane, was leaning cooly up against the side of the trunk.

"So...Alexis' home is out there somewhere, right?" Jaden questioned Zane.

"Could be," Zane answered, "We'll never know by staying here."

"But how far could a raft take us?" Jaden questioned, having become unsure of how well a raft could handle interstellar travel.

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else." Zane reassured.

"So, suppose you get to another world...what would you do there?" Alexis asked.

"Well...I...haven't really thought about it..." Zane replied, "It's just...I've always wondered why we're here, on this planet. If there are any other worlds out there, why'd we end up on this one?" Zane continued with his deep thoughts, "And suppose there are other worlds...then ours is just a little piece of something much greater." Now Zane posed his main question, "So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

Jaden, feeling a bit put to shame by Zane's spiel, flipped one leg over the trunk and leaned against a curve in the tree.

"I dunno" he shrugged.

"Exactly, That why we need to go out there and find out." Zane pushed himself off the tree and walked close to the water's edge, "Just sitting here won't change a thing."

Jaden and Alexis looked at each other and nodded, both knowing quite well what was coming.

"It's just the same old stuff." Zane complained, "So let's go."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Alexis noted.

Alexis turned around, "Thanks to you."

At that, Jaden, who had been dozing off, perked back up and listened closely to what Alexis was going to say.

"If you hadn't come here, I probably would've never thought of any of this." Zane paused, "Alexis. Thanks.".

"Heh, you're welcome." she smiled.

Unsure of why Zane's words were making him nervous, Jaden shifted uncomfortably and leaned back again, looking out over the ocean.

Soon enough, Alexis announced that they had to return for dinner, and jumped down from the trunk. She walked across the bridge that led back to Duel Academy where there dorms waiting back home; where dinner awaited.

Jaden and Zane groaned at the prospect of having to move, but soon followed.

"Jaden!" Zane slyly called out, the last to leave the islet.

Jaden turned just in time to catch something yellow and star-shaped that Zane had thrown at him.

A Paopu Fruit.

Jaden sighed, knowing what was coming.

Since Alexis was already down at the beach, Zane spoke freely.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" Zane said with a knowing smile.

jaden feigned ignorance."A...paopu fruit...?"

Zane began to walk past him, face solemn. "If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each others' lives no matter what." his serious facade broke and he chuckled, "C'mon, I know you want to try it."

"What are you talking about-" Jaden began nervously.

Zane laughed fully and ran off, Jaden looked once at the paopu, wondering if Zane had a point-

-before tossing it over the side of the bridge, and proceeding to run after his friend.

Looney Castle was a majestic structure, with towering, bright blue pinnacles that reached high into the clear, morning sky. The walls of the towers and castle were pure white, not a discoloration to be seen.

Inside the Castle, a Duck mage was walking through it's grand halls, making his way to the Throne Room as was his morning custom.

You see, Daffy Duck was going to visit his best friend, who just so happened to be the King of this castle. With a nod, he acknowledged the the passing birds carrying buckets of water. He guessed they were going to clean the Kitchen again.

He soon reached the massive doors to the throne room. The handles of the doors stood at least seven times as high as the mage, but Daffy simply cleared his throat and knocked on the door. In front of where he was standing, a door-sized opening appeared and he walked through and began to make his way across the mammoth Throne Room.

"Wake up, Rabbit, it's nice to see-" his greeting cut itself short when he found the King's throne empty. The King was never NOT here this early! It had been their morning ritual for years to meet and go over the State of the Realm.

That was when the King's loyal friend, Scooby-Doo, popped it's head out from behind the golden throne. It looked like it had a note in it's mouth.

Daffy waddled over and reached down, taking the note from the dog. Wiping the drool off of it.

Soon enough, almost the whole castle was awakened as the duck ran screaming out of the throne room, careening wildly across the halls.

Something had happened. Something unheard of, and Daffy had always been known for his extreme reactions.


	4. Chapter III: Duel Academy, Day 2

**Chapter III: Duel Academy, Day 2**

_"Everythings gonna be fine..."_

Porky Pig, Captain of the King's Knights, was laying in the pristine pruned garden, enjoying a restful morning nap. The day was bright and beautiful, as it was most days at the Castle, and the garden seemed even more bright and beautiful than the rest. Throughout the garden, hedges were cut in the shape of different denizens of the castle. Birds chirped quietly atop them, forming a calming atmosphere. The garden was cool in the morning, with the sun just peeking over the castle wall. For all intensive purposes, if you were the type to desire a peaceful, soothing place, the garden of Looney Castle was the one place in the universe where you would want to be.

But, unfortunately, you would not want to be there for very long.

"Wake Up, Porky, wake up! This is serious!" Daffy screamed as he almost plowed into the sleeping pig-creature.

Porky let out a noisy snore and continued to sleep.

Daffy, who was never really a patient duck, called down a bolt of magic lightning to zap Porky awake. Just a little one, mind you. Not enough to kill the pig-Captain, but enough to waken him, which is not an easy feat.

Porky sat up, rubbing his eyes. He tried to remember something he heard once about the chances of being struck by lightning, but he gave up when he saw Daffy standing next to him, looking more impatient then normal.

"Hey Hey-eh-ha-eh-ha-Hey- there, Daffy. G'morning!" Porky greeted happily.

"We've got a problem, Porky!" Daffy interrupted, shifting his eyes slyly, "But don't tell anyone...".

Porky blinked a few times and titled his head.

"Queen Lola?" He questioned.

Daffy shook his head emphatically, "Not even the Queen!"

"Melissa?" Daffy continued.

Daffy blanched, and said even more emphatically, "Noooo! It's top secret!"

It was then that Porky noticed two guests standing just beyond them. One was a small rabbit wearing a pink dress and the other was a duck, quite like Daffy, and wearing purple.

"G'morning Ladies!" he cheerily greeted.

Even though Daffy's normal pallor, being a duck, was black, he paled to an even whiter-white as he turned about to see none other than Queen Lola, looking on curiously, and Melissa, who looked quite unhappy. At him most likely.

"Eheheheh..."

The next morning, warm and sunny as it always seemed to be in Duel Academy, Jaden arrived on the shore of Duel Academy and made his way to the cove on the northern side of the island. It was there they had housed their raft in it's construction stages.

No sooner had he the raft in sight, just down a few stairs and over a small rise, he saw Zane sitting on the top step.

"Finally! I've been waiting for you." Zane remarked as he stood. "You know our raft still needs a name. I was thinking Millennium, but since I'm such a great guy, what do you think?"

"Ahhh...I was..." Jaden pondered, "I was thinking...Excalibur?"

Zane looked quizzically at Jaden, "Hey, how about we-"

Jaden, anticipating what was coming, quickly replied, "The usual?"

"Let's do it!" Zane nodded.

Alexis chose that moment to appear over the rise, most likely having just finished giving the Raft her daily check. Seeing Jaden and Zane, she knew exactly what they were up to.

"You guys at it again?" she asked. "All right, I'll be the judge. Usual rules apply."

Jaden and Zane took their places.

"If I win...uhhhh...I'm captain! And if you win..." Jaden began to bet.

"I get to share the paopu with Alexis," Jaden whispered, completely serious.

"Huh?" Jaden faltered, quickly checking to see if Alexis had heard. She hadn't. She just looked at them oddly, wondering what they were whispering about.

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Alexis."

Jaden's mind began to slow, "Uhh...wait a minute..."

Jaden blushed slightly at the thought of sharing a Paopu with Alexis. How could he possibly be thinking this? She was one of his best friends for goodness' sake! He gulped. What if Zane won? Was he serious that he would share a Paopu with Alexis? The thought made him uneasy. But why? So what if Zane had a paopu...with Alexis...

No, definitely didn't want that to happen.

Fortunately for Jaden, he was saved from making it a deal-or-no-deal by Alexis's voice calling out a countdown.

Unfortunately for Jaden, he didn't hear Alexis' pronouncement, being so preoccupied with his thoughts. Only when he felt sand blow against his face from Zane speeding off and Alexis giggling at his seeming inability to run, did Jaden realize he was supposed to be racing Zane. Again.

Needless to say, Jaden lost that race. Badly.

Thus the raft was named Millennium, just as Zane had suggested.

Jaden didn't find out until later that Zane had not been at all serious.

"OW!" Jaden yelled, rubbing his head with his hand. A jagged rock jutted out from the earthen ceiling above him as he climbed through the small tunnel that led to the Abandoned Dorm. He wondered why Alexis said they had needed mushrooms, of all things. He wondered why he had to climb into the Abandoned Dorm to find some. He wondered how he could still fit.

The Abandoned Dorm was the hideaway of younger years, years when it took less trouble to fit down the tunnel. He could still get through with little problem, but after they get back from the Raft Trip, they would have to expand the tunnel.

But...what if they didn't come back?

The thought of not returning had never crossed Jaden's mind before then. He had always just thought this would be the last adventure of their summer, no matter how much Zane thought they would find. What if he never saw his home again after tomorrow? What would his mother think? Or Zane and Alexis' families? Jaden doubted Zane's brother knew about what they were doing, but his mother and Alexis' parents thought it was just a fun little thing their kids were attempting. Never to be realized, of course.

What if something happened to them while they were sailing?

Jaden eventually found himself in the circular room at the end of the tunnel, high enough to stand up in. Against the far wall, right beside the odd oaken door that had always been there, grew a couple mushrooms. As he walked over to them, he admired the wall art.

He smiled nostalgically. This was where he, Zane, and Alexis would doodle on the walls while talking of what the odd door, without a handle or a knob, could lead to. One drawing in particular caught his eyes.

Two drawings to be exact.

One displayed the head of a small boy with big hair, obviously the work of someone who was fairly good at drawing with chalk on cave walls. The other, a slightly-worse drawn picture of a small girl with long hair.

Jaden's mind arrived back at the present and he found that he had drawn an arm on the side with his portrait, the one Alexis had drawn.

The arm was holding out a Paopu fruit to Alexis.

Jaden looked at the drawing, wondering how he had done that without noticing, and hastily tried to erase it with his jacket.

Jaden didn't have much time to resign himself to the inevitable, as a fluttering of something passing ticked him at the base of his neck and he jumped to his feet.

"Wh-Who's there?" he asked, wondering who would've followed him in. Hopefully not Alexis. He wouldn't survive the embarrassment.

A deep voice that seemed to echo throughout the room reached Jaden's ears.

"I've come to see the door to this world." the voice intoned.

"Huh?" Jaden questioned. His mind briefly touched upon the door to his right, but it quickly moved on.

"This world has been connected."

"Wh—What're you talking about?" Jaden asked the room.

"Tied to the darkness..." the voice continued, unhurried. "soon to be completely eclipsed."

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this." Jaden, for the first time, noticed a brown-hooded and cloaked figure standing in the corner across from him.

"Huh? Wh—Where did you come from?" he asked, becoming only slightly fearful.

The figure's deep voice continued."You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."

"Are...are you from another world?" Jaden asked, having never seen this man before.

The figure ignored Jaden, "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little"

Taken-aback at the stranger's insult, Jaden shot-back, "Oh yeah? We'll you'll see! I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"

"A meaningless effort." the voice replied unemotionally, "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Jaden, for the first time, felt something from behind the Door. Something moving. Something thumping. Something pulsating.

He turned to see what it was, expecting some large monster, perhaps the one from his dream, to jump out at him. Nothing was there.

Jaden turned back to the man, but he was gone as well.

Taking the mushrooms with him, an unnerved Jaden left the Abandoned Dorm and made his way back to Alexis who was waiting at the Raft.

Zane had to head home early, so Jaden and Alexis sat on Duel Academy's dock and watched the sunset by themselves.

As he sat and watched the last gleams of light disappear into the ocean, Jaden's mind continued to think about the Paopu he had drawn on the Abandoned Dorm's wall. Why did he find the girl sitting beside him more beautiful than the sunset they were watching? More than the rays reflecting off the water?

Why was he thinking this right now? Why him? Why now?

Part of his mind wanted to accept the fact that he just might love Alexis. That part desperately wanted to reach over, take her small, delicate hand in his own and hold it close. Maybe a small kiss. The other part didn't know what it wanted, aside from wanting the other side to shut up.

What was love anyway?

"You know, Zane's changed." Alexis suddenly spoke, interrupting the calm silence.

"What'd you mean?" Jaden asked, a bit confused by Alexis's statement.

Alexis didn't say anything and just looked out at the ocean silently again.

"You okay?" Jaden asked concernedly.

"Jaden! Let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!" Alexis blurted out.

If Jaden's mind hadn't ceased working at that moment, he would have noticed Alexis' eye widen, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Wh-What?" Jaden stammered.

Alexis giggled slightly, "Just kidding."

Jaden's mind began to reboot then, "What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Alexis." he chuckled.

Alexis' voice became thoughtful, "Maybe..."

Jaden was about to tell Alexis he had just been kidding with her, but she continued.

"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here," she turned to Jaden, "Right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Jaden affirmed.

"That's good." Alexis sighed, contented. "Jaden?"

"Yeah, Alexis?"

"Don't ever change."

Alexis stood and looked down at Jaden, smiling. She looked back out at the sea.

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."

Jaden knew this to be true, but he still couldn't shake his odd conversation with the hooded man in the Duel Academy out of his mind.

Daffy,

Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, doc, but there's big trouble brewin'.

Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it.

There's someone with a "key"-the key to our survival. So I need you and Porky to find him, and stick with him. Got it, doc?

We need that key or we're doomed!

So go to Traverse Town and find Joey. He'll point you in the right direction.

P.S. Would ya apologize to Lola for me? Thanks, doc.

~Bugs

Queen Lola Bunny placed the letter she had been silently reading for the fourth time down on the desk and looked at the others gathered in the Castle Library: Her Lady-in-Waiting, Melissa, Melissa's sweetheart, Daffy, and the Captain of the Royal Guard, Porky.

"Oh dear! What could this mean?" Melissa asked, confused.

Lola looked down at the ground, "It means...we'll just have to trust the King." The Queen wondered silently why her husband would just leave, and without telling her. He only left a note, and that was only for his best friend, not his wife!

Porky put his hand to he chin thoughtfully, "Oh my, I sure ah-he-uh-he-uh... hope he's all right."

"Your highness," Daffy addressed the Queen, "Don't worry, we'll find the King and this 'key'."

Lola smiled, "Thank you, both of you."

"Melissa, can you take care of-" Daffy began.

"Of course." Melissa finished, "You be careful now, both of you."

"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you." Lola pointed towards the desk.

"Over here!" a small voice called out.

Upon close inspection, Daffy and Porky found that Lola had been pointing to a small mouse standing on the desk. A mouse who was now jumping up and down on the table trying to garner attention to himself.

Seeing that he had accomplished his goal, the smartly-dressed, in a top hat and frock, mouse introduced himself.

"Sniffles' the name, at your service."

Minnie looked back at Donald and Goofy, "We hope for your safe return," and a bit more quieter, "Please help the King."

Daffy saluted down the line, Queen Lola, then Melissa, then Porky...

Porky?

"You're coming too!" Daffy quacked as his dragged Porky toward the Dodger Hangar.

"Oh my, Sniffles, your world disappeared too?" Porky asked.

"It was terrible! We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle." The mouse replied sadly from his placement on Porky's helmet.

"Porky." Daffy reprimanded, knowing well what was coming.

"Oh, right...I gotcha. While we're in other worlds, we can't let on where we're from, huh? We've gotta protect the world border."

"Order." Daffy tiredly corrected.

Goofy chuckled."Right. World Order!"

Daffy sighed.

"I guess we'll need new duds when we get there, huh?" Porky asked.

Daffy sighed again and opened the door to the Dodger Ship Hangar.

Inside was a cacophony of noise. Gears turned, lights flashed and above it all hung a red box, in which two small mice, Pinky and Brain, sat controlling the hangar. In the middle of the room sat a large red ship, simply made with a rocket-shaped body and two wings. This was the Dodger Ship.

"Hello up there? Daffy Duck to launch crew!" Daffy spoke into the radio beside the door, "Anytime you're ready!"

Pinky and Brain both saluted and began to push buttons and pull levers. The ramp descended from the belly of the ship, allowing access for Daffy and Porky.

The WB-head-shaped Launch Tunnel slowly opened in front of the Dodger, and Daffy proceeded to place himself in front of the controls. He gave a thumbs-up and a wink to Melissa, who had just entered with the Queen. Daffy wondered where Scooby-Doo, the King's loyal friend, had gone, but he didn't dwell on that much, since, in a few moments, the ship was flying out into open space.

"-Tied to the Darkness."

Jaden lay in his bed, looking out his window into the night. The sky was darkening, filled with swirling black clouds. Duel Academy was covered in darkness, unable to be seen clearly. The water was calm, lapping against the shoreline. The air was warm and humid at midnight, and jaden knew that he should be asleep. Tomorrow was the day they were to leave. He needed his rest.

He just couldn't stop thinking about that...figure in the Abandoned Dorm.

Had he really been there? What did he mean by "tied to the darkness"? Or "the door to this world"?

Who was the man? What was he? Where did he come from?

Jaden turned his head and looked at the toy ship hanging from his ceiling. Two cloth figures were inside, one male and one female. One with big hair, the other with straight, long hair. His mind wandered briefly to he and Alexis on the Raft. Alone.

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great." Alexis' voice echoed in his mind.

For a split moment, Jaden's room was bathed in a glow from a strike of lightning.

"A storm?"

Jaden peered out his window and saw Duel Academy illuminated by another flash of lightning. The waves had gotten worse and were now beating against the shore. Rain had started to fall a few moments ago and was now deluging upon the Island.

Jaden sat straight up in bed. "Oh no! The Raft!"

Upon reaching the ocean around the shore, Jaden found himself staring up into a swirling blue-and-red hole in the sky. He sat frozen in his boat for a moment, just watching the rip in the sky convulse. He eventually felt his boat hit the sand and come up onto the beach. He stepped off onto the muddy sand, soaked through from the rain and waves. Down the beach he noticed two other boats. Zane's and Alexis' were pulled up on the beach. He worried slightly for Alexis, but, quite suddenly, the shadows from his dream returned.

They were small, spindly beings with black claws and a pair of black antenna sticking from their round heads. Two large, glowing yellows eyes shined from the otherwise black skin. Every few moments they would twitch, looking as though they were being jerked about on puppet strings. Jaden's eyes widened as his dream from the day before flashed before his eyes.

"You are the one who will open the door"

Since Jaden didn't have a weapon, he tried dodging the creatures with a small amount of success. A few scratches later, he was standing atop the bridge staring out onto the Paopu Islet, wondering why the dark creatures hadn't followed him. It was then that he noticed that someone was standing in the middle of the Islet, looking up into the dark hole in the sky.

It was Zane.

Jaden didn't think about what Zane was doing out there or why, he just ran towards his friend.

"Zane! Zane! I found you!" he stepped onto the Islet itself, looking around confusedly."Where's Alexis? Isn't she with you?"

Zane ignored him, speaking simply. "The door has opened."

"I've come to see the door to this world."

Jaden paled, remembering the mystery man's words. "Wh-what?" he stuttered.

"The door has opened, Jaden!" Zane repeated, glancing at Jaden. Annoyance laced the edges of his words like poison. "Now we can go to the different dimension!"

"What're you talking about? We've gotta find Alexis!"

"Alexis' coming with us." Zane said straightforwardly and looked back.

Jaden didn't like the way Zane had said that at all, and would've told Zane as much had the older boy not continued talking.

"Once we step through," he said. "We might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back" he continued on with a sudden renewed vigor, "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

Zane turned fully around and held out a steady hand for Jaden to join him.

Jaden's mind flashed. The waves, the fall, the monster, the shadows, Zane reaching...his dream.

"Zane...?" Jaden began, unsure.

At that moment, a pool of darkness snapped open beneath Zane's feet and began to snake tendrils of darkness up the boy's body. Yet Zane's hand still held out, an open invitation for Jaden to join him. Zane seemed not to notice the darkness slowly covering him.

Pools of darkness...his dream...

Jaden began to reach for Zane, but a pool of darkness appeared beneath him as well. It froze him in place, legs unmovable. He could only strain his arm, closer and closer to Zane's hand.

Three Inches.

Zane continued to stand, staring emptily at Jaden, still as a statue. A statue being eaten by a tentacled monster of darkness.

Two Inches.

Jaden pushed his fingers to their full extension. He felt the muscles in his fingers stretching themselves, sending pain up his hand.

One Inch.

Darkness enveloped Jaden.

Too late.

All Jaden saw was darkness.

"Was that it?"

Was that all that was? Darkness? Darkness, everywhere. Pulling, pushing, grasping, choking.

"Or maybe this was all there ever was..."

It was within this darkness that a small speck of light suddenly gleamed. A faraway star calling Jaden to it. It shone with a sudden brightness and Jaden was standing back on the Paopu Islet, rain pelting his face and thunder pounding in his ears. Everything was the same.

Jaden then noticed that two things were, in fact, different.

One, Zane was gone.

Two, Jaden hand grasped a golden hilt connected to a long, silver sword. It was sharp, and three prongs of metal stuck out from the side of the blade, near the tip.

The shadows, the sword...his dream...

Suddenly, a million voices inside Jaden's head began to speak, all chanting the same words.

Keyblade...

Keyblade...

Keyblade...

Keyblade...

Jaden stumbled forward a bit, clutching his head, not noticing that the sword had disappeared. The voices continued to chant, but their noise soon disappeared. With that, the shadows reappeared. Jaden slowly moved backwards, well aware that the Islet was not that big. He had no idea what to do next. That was when he felt the sword back in his hand.

Now, properly equipped, Jaden put his seven plus years of dueling against Zane to the test.

After returning a dozen of the shadow-beings to smoke, Jaden realized that the Paopu Islet was being literally flooded with the little creatures. He knew he had to escape. He hastily beat a path through the shadows with his sword and ran across the bridge back to Duel Academy's mainland. Now, with Zane disappeared, he had to find Alexis. Wherever she was. He couldn't let another one of his friends disappear, especially not Alexis.

From his vantage point on the bridge, Jaden noticed that something was amiss on Duel Academy.

Well, aside from shadow creatures, unusual storms, disappearing friends, strange key-swords, and black holes.

A door had appeared in front of the entrance to the abandoned dorm.

A...door...his dream...the man...

"I've come to see the door to this world."

Jaden quickly ran through the shadows and dragged open the door and entered the tunnel. No shadows were assaulting him here. He continued to speed down the passageway, only bumping his head once or twice. He pulled up short when he found Alexis standing before the oaken door.

"Alexis!" Jaden exclaimed, relieved. He had found her. She was safe. He felt a small smile manifest itself on his face. He felt like everything would be okay for now.

Alexis hadn't reacted to his call yet, she seemed to be staring at the door. The large, oaken door that rimmed itself in gold.

"I've come to see the door to this world."

"-Tied to the darkness"

As Alexis slowly turned around to face him, Jaden knew that something was dreadfully wrong. Alexis looked to be almost dead. Her eyes were dim, her skin was pale and clammy. Her movements, slow and weak.

Her pained moan of, "Jaden..." didn't do much to reassure him either.

As Jaden looked into her dim eyes, he forgot all about the world going to hell outside, about Zane's disappearance, about the key-sword, about the shadows, about the man.

Alexis needed help. Something was wrong with Alexis.

Slowly, her hand began to raise from her side, fingers hanging limply as her hand reached out for him. Jaden barely noticed his feet moving forward.

But that was when the door, the door that had always been wondered about, the door that had never opened, did just that.

The Door Opened.

And as the door opened, darkness poured out. Monstrous waves of dark energy moved out like a nuclear blast from it's epicenter. Jaden thought he caught a glimpse of the shadow creatures inside the door, but he wasn't sure. Furious winds blew from within and pushed the weak Alexis toward Jaden. He, seeing this, moved forward against the winds to catch her before she fell.

Just as he felt the most ghostly of touches from her, she simply clenched his eyes against the winds. She was gone. How had all this happened?

She had been close enough to feel her breath, touch her body against his, to smell her strawberry scent.

But, just like that, she was gone, and the raging, screaming wind blew Jaden off his feet and out of the Abandoned Dorm.

Jaden tasted sand in his mouth. He also felt his in his eyes and up his nose. He had landed face first outside, allowed plenty of sand to find it's way into his face's cavities.

As he spit the sand from his mouth, he found that he was on Duel Academy, or what was left of it, surrounded by Black-purple nothingness. The wind still swirled and pulled upwards slightly. Above him pulsated the dark hole. The hole had grown at least ten times it's original size and now filled most of the sky.

Nothing of the Paopu Islet remained but a small spit of land floating in nothingness. Jaden couldn't see the island was reduced to nothing more than sand, wooden rubble, and a few stubborn, half-uprooted, tree stumps.

The black hole was sucking the life from Duel Academy.

His Islands. His friends. His home.

Jaden thought, for a brief moment, that he might've seen pieces of the raft spin by, chewed upon by the winds, being carried up to the always thirsting black mouth of the hole.

Without warning, the ground quaked.

Afraid, Jaden turned to find none other than the Monster from his dream. The monster with a eye-shaped hole in it's torso and black tentacles for hair.

The monster...my dream...

The sword appeared in his hand again as the monster's hand came down. Odd. He hadn't noticed when it disappeared before.

Jaden again dodged the blow, but the monster seemed to see this coming and moved his hand to crush the boy where he had moved to.

Jaden brought the sword up, and slashed away at the massive hand coming toward him, beating it off long enough for him to move out from its path. Jaden, now knowing that the monster had become wise to what had happened in his dream, ignored the fact that the monster really hadn't, in fact, been in his dream and moved toward the monster's small feet.

Jaden thought, perhaps, that a few well-aimed hits would take it down at it's weakest points. He remembered this time to be ready to dodge the projectiles the monster had just began to shoot at him.

After a few dodges and cuts, the monster's feet separated from the body and, with a ground-shaking roar, it began to collapse.

It then occurred to Jaden that there wasn't too many places to run on what was left of Duel Academy.

He caught sight of some planks, left still hanging onto the tree stump them were nailed to. He hid by them, hoping to shield himself from some of the blow should the monster fall towards him.

When no crash came, Jaden peeked out to see the monster slowly floating into the black hole. Floating up and up and up into nothingness, arms outstretched as if offering itself to some god.

The winds picked up even higher then and Jaden felt his body come off the ground. His feet slowly switched places with his fingers until he was grasping at the wood planks, feeling his body being stretched toward the hole. After a sort struggle, the winds easily overpowered him. His last thoughts were erratic, ranging from his mother, to his friends, to his house, and finally finding themselves a resting place in Zane and Alexis.

Jaden then felt a sense of weightlessness as the dark hole welcomed him in.

"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."


	5. Chapter IV: Traverse Town

**Chapter IV: Traverse Town**

_"A town for the lost children."_

Porky gazed around the Central Square of Traverse Town's First District. It was early evening, and slightly chilly. Traverse Town was a city crammed systematically together. Only a trained eye could notice where one building stopped the next began. This world was a haven for those who had had their homeworlds destroyed. It was, as some would say, an In-Between World. No one was entirely sure how some people ended up in the Town and others did not, but most realized their good fortune in being still alive. Porky sadly wondered if any of the people of this town would ever be able to find home again. His home was safe,and for that Porky felt a bit of guilt, but he knew that due to the nature of Looney Castle, it couldn't be destroyed. But all the other worlds...What would happen if Traverse Town was destroyed? Would all the castaways be lost to the darkness?

Suddenly, there was a bright flash that seemed to grow from the sky. It blocked vision for a few moments, before seeming to be sucked back to where it came. Only this time, a star was missing from the corner of the sky where the light had originated.

"There goes another star, winking out..." Porky said sadly.

Daffy stared at the sky and shuddered. "Come on. Let's hurry."

Porky wondered who had lived on that world, and if any of them had appeared in Traverse Town in that instant.

"Where could that Key be..." Daffy mumbled impatiently to no one in particular. He wanted to find the key. Find the Key, Find the king. Get home. Not that anyone could particularly blame him, just having seen a world destroyed.

"Hey, ya-ye-ya-yeah know, maybe we ought to go find Jeoy," Porky offered.

Daffy nodded and took a left, leading to a higher portion of the First District. Porky was about to follow when Scooby Doo, who had somehow sneaked aboard the Dodger Ship, veered off from Daffy and moved to the right, nose along the ground. The dog was moving into an alleyway. Daff ignored Scooby Doo and continued on his way.

"Uh, Daffy, ya know, I betcha that..." Porky stopped and pointed the was Scooby Doo was headed.

"Aw, what do you know, pig?" Daffy asked, dismissing him with a wave.

"What do I know?" Pokry wondered. He turned and yelled after the dog. "Come on, Scooby!" before following Daffy.

Jaden came to feeling a hand touch. He reached up and shoved whatever it was away, trying to piece together what had happened from his darkened memory. The last thing he remembered was Zane...then Alexis...then the Monster and...the Islands!

Jaden shot to his feet in terror and looked around quickly. His surroundings consisted of an alleyway of dark red bricks and the occasional scattered garbage can. A few crates were stacked in the back corner and a gangly, brown-colored dog sat obediently in front of him. All this took backseat to the fact that he was no longer on Duel Academy and that his world were gone. As were his family. As was Zane. As was Alexis.

"Where am I?" Jaden wandered out from the Alley, completely forgetting about the dog that had woken him. As he passed into better-lighted areas, he found himself looking at a small Town Square, boxed in by houses on all but two sides. People he did not know wandered about.

Was this...could this...could this be another world? This definitely wasn't Duel Academy anymore, and Jaden could only wonder. His wonderment soon turned to distress as he realized the full weight of what had happened. His home was destroyed. Taken by those dark creatures. He hadn't been able to stop it. Zane had disappeared into darkness and Alexis had just disappeared period. He leaned against a wall and slid to the ground slowly. The bricks felt rough and shoddily made on his back, as if they had been cobbled together as fast as possible. Jaden leaned his head into his hands and tried to hold back tears. Zane would probably have playfully shoved him and called him a baby, but he really wouldn't mind that right now. He would be happy just knowing he wasn't alone. That someone was there to support him. Heck, he would be thankful if his mother shook him awake and told him to get to school. To tell him that this was all a dream. But she couldn't do that. Nor could Zane joke with him. They were all gone.

And then there was Alexis. She was gone too. Just like that, poof, gone. She had looked terrible when he had last seen her and remembering her face now only made the tears fall faster. She had looked dead. She really had. That scared Jaden more than anything. Zane had disappeared and, aside from his talk about the doors being opened, had seemed fine beforehand. Alexis, in contrast, had looked dead before vanishing. Jaden dragged in a shuddering breath and choked, releasing a strangled sob. Why had this happened to him? He had never been outside of the island. He had had no reason to. There were a few far-flung towns outside of Domino City, but he had never had a reason to go beyond his hometown.

Jaden tried to take another breath and was able to hold it without crying this time. He had to look on the bright side. He didn't know that they were dead. They could just be missing. They could've arrived in this town just like him!

This small glimmer of hope, growing taller and fuller in the fertile soil of Jaden's soul, helped the boy to his feet and assisted him in drying his tears. He swallowed over a lump in his throat and stepped forward, fully out into the Town Square.

Immediately, something crashed into him, knocking him onto his back and forcing whatever-it-was to trip over him. Jaden shook his head and looked over. It was a boy, younger than he, who had been running like the devil was chasing him. The boy didn't even look at Jaden as he scrambled to his feet and disappeared around a corner.

"And don't ya come back! You trouble making kid!" a voice yelled from down the way. Jaden turned and saw a man stepping out from inside one of the shops, waving his fist at the escaping boy. This man looked about 30, with a square face and a brown fohawk hairstyle. He wore a simple white t-shirt, while wearing a red jacket over it. After shaking his head and scowling, the man caught sight of Jaden.

"Never seen you 'round here, before." The man squinted "Ya new? Anything you need help with, kid?

"I'm not a kid." Jaden retorted, "And the name's Jaden!"

"The hell you are..." the man mumbled, causing Jaden to glare at him."Okay, okay, simmer down. Why the long face, Jaden? You lost or somethin'?"

"I...I think I am." Jaden replied, any anger that he might had felt now gone.

"Well," the man cracked his neck, "Where'd you come from?"

"Duel Academy." Jaden quickly replied, "It's beautiful and warm. The water is clear blue and all the people, I've got all these friends-" Jaden caught himself mid-sentence when he realized he was rambling about the Island. The Island that were, most likely, now gone. He swallowed over a new lump in his throat.

The man raised an eyebrow."Well...this here is Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town..." Jaden said to himself. "So, gramps, is this...is this another world?"

The man's eyes narrowed and he puffed on his cigarette heavily. "Don't call me gramps! The name's Thristan! Thristan Taylor!" he drew in a breath and calmed."Not sure what the hell you're on about, but this Town sure ain't your Island."

In the furthest corner of his mind, Jaden had thought that maybe, just maybe, this was some part of Duel Academy he had never seen. But now, with Thristan's proclamation, that thought was dashed and he came to the crushing realization that he was on another world. But, he still kept to the hope that since he had shown up here, maybe everyone else had too, including his mother, Zane, and Alexis.

"Well, good luck with whatever the hell it is you're doing." Thristan shrugged and turned to walk back into the shop he had come out of. "If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll help ya."

Jaden watched the door close shut behind the man. He briefly wondered what Thristan's story was and where he had come from, before running off to see if he could find his friends.

Thristan watched out his shop's window as the boy, Jaden, disappeared through the walkway to the Second District. For some reason, this little brat stuck in his mind.

F**k

They had people, kids, who came through here everyday, what with the Soulless getting worse and all, so why did this punk stick in his mind? Was it because he almost reminded Thristan of Kaiba at that age? Or was it something else?

Thistan inhaled one last time and threw his cigarette in the garbage. He pulled out another one and lit it with a practiced flick from his lighter. He exhaled on the window. After a moment of thought, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. A few rings later, someone picked up.

"Hey there, Joey?" he listened for the reply. "Yeah, I know you don't like it, but shaddap and listen to this: I think it's here." more silence. "The hell do I know! This is gonna sound f***ed up, but I...I just got this feeling-" silence. "He's a f***ing kid! He ain't even older than Tea!" again, silence. Except for a muffled, faraway 'I heard that!' Thristan coughed and continued."So whadda you got plann-"

Click.

"Joey? Joey?" Thistan growled and shoved the phone back in his pocket. "Dammit, Joey!"

Jaden slid to an immediate halt when he rounded a corner in the Second District and came face to face with the boy who had crashed into him earlier. He watched the boy with wide eyes for a few moments before realizing that the boy wasn't moving, he was standing completely stiff, arms stretched down at his sides. His eyes were wide and his mouth was open in a wordless scream. Jaden yelped in surprise as, suddenly, a black, shadowy hand with jagged fingers appeared through the middle of the boys chest. Jaden watched in horror as it squeezed itself into a fist and pulled back. The boy toppled stiffly to the ground, revealing the shadow creature that was standing behind him. It was holding a red, glowing sphere in it's hand. It slowly dropped the orb to the ground and, as soon as it hit, darkness welled up around it. When the darkness had faded a new shadow being stood where the sphere had once been. The new shadow shifted it's antenna around and jerked it's head twice, then disappeared into a portal of darkness.

Jaden gulped and looked down at the body. He took a step back when he realized the body was gone. Absolutely gone. No blood, no body, no trace.

Jaden's mind was in shock from what he saw. The shadow had reached into the boy's chest, taken a red sphere, created another shadow, and then they both had disappeared. Had they taken the body with them? He didn't have long to think, because a whole cadre of new shadows appeared from dark portals. They twitched once or twice, before three of them jumped at him. Jaden concentrated and was able to call the sword to his hand, knocking the shadows away just in time. He now was looking at about nine more of the creatures.

Jaden readied himself to be attacked, wondering if he could take down nine of them at once.

Luckily, he wouldn't get to find out because a sudden fwooshing sound came from his left and eight of the nine shadows were destroyed in one burst of fire. The final one jerked his head to where his comrades used to be before being slashed apart by a silver sword with the decorum of a pistol on it's hilt.

"They'll come at ya out of nowhere." The voice attached to sword spoke.

Jaden looked up to see a tall man dressed in a white shirt and blue bomber's jacket with fur on the neckline and blue jeans. Three belts hung loosely around the man's waist. He had dark, solemn blue eyes and a sharp face. Brown puffy hair grew sharply above his ears and down to his shoulders.

"Who're you?" Jaden questioned, still holding up his sword.

"-And they'll keep on coming at you, as long at you continue to wield the Keyblade." the man pointed at the weapon in Jaden's hand. Keyblade? That's what the voice in his head had said when he'd gotten the sword back on the Paopu Islet! So that's what it was called.

"But why?" the man continued."Why would it choose a kid like you?" he shook his head in disappointment.

"Hey!" Jaden hotly responded, "What's that supposed to mean?

"Nevermind." the man sighed and began to walk forward, holding his empty hand out. "Now...let's see that Keyblade."

"What?" Jaden exclaimed, "There's no way you're getting this!"

"All right..." the man replied, seemingly unconcerned. "Then have it your way." He pointed his sword forward toward Jaden. It gave a quiet click as he did so.

Jaden gritted his teeth and took his ready stance. The man's lips twitched in what almost resembled a smirk as he created a small fireball in his hand, then proceeded to throw it at Jaden.

Jaden barely had time to register that this man had just made fire appear in his hand before the ball of fire, which seemed to have been made more hard than hot, crashed into him, throwing him roughly against the wall.

Joey sighed and rolled his eyes, hooking his Gunblade back onto position on his belt. That was too easy. Why had the Keyblade chosen him? Was it even safe with him?

"Hey! You found it! Nice going, Joey!" called a female voice from behind.

"Still..." Joey replied to the girl without looking."It seems like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

Daffy and Porky were slowly walkinhg through an empty alleyway that led to another part of the Town. Joey was still nowhere to be found, and Daffy was becoming impatient.

"Phooey! Where's Joey? Why are we even here..." he mumbled.

"Excuse me. Did the King send you?" inquired a soft voice.

Daffy jumped in surprise and turned to see a young woman with calm grey eyes and long, brown hair. She wore blue shorts and held a small flower basket in her left hand.

"I think there is something I can help you with." the woman continued.

"Come on, lazy slacker. Wake up." a familiar voice spoke to the edges of Jaden's mind.

Jaden blinked his eyes open. His body was stiff and his head was spinning. And if he was not mistaken, Alexis was standing in front of him!

He couldn't believe it! He had been right! Alexis had ended up here, too! And if Jaden had ended up here, then the others must have too! Jaden smiled and, through the dizziness, grabbed Alexis in a huge bear hug.

"Alexis! Alexis, I'm so happy you're okay!" he smiled.

"Hey! HEY!" her muffled voice screamed, "Lemme go!"

Jaden continued to hug her tight.

"I said-" she repeated, wrestling herself from his grip, "Lemme. Go."

Jaden looked at Alexis incredulously. She must not have known what had happened or what he had gone through. But, even then, this seemed so unlike her.

It was then that the room came into focus, and along with it, Alexis. Or who he had thought was Alexis. Instead of Alexis, in front of him stood a girl about Alexis' hight, more older, with short, brown hair falling around a black headband, which was tied tightly above a pair of sky blue eyes. She wore light khaki shorts with a grey tank top, in floral patterns, covered with a sleeveless, black vest. Light brown boots were laced tightly up to her knees. A four-pointed metal star was strapped to her back. Jaden guessed it was some type of weapon.

"You're—you're not Alexis..." Jaden blushed.

The girl rolled her eyes and brushed herself off, "Of course I'm not! I'm Téa Gardner! Nice to meet'cha!"

Jaden sighed and swallowed back the disappointment of having not actually found Alexis, and listened to what Téa had begun to say.

"The Soulless attacked you because you have the Keyblade, but they really want your soul, because it can wield the Keyblade—are you even listening to me?" Téa asked and shoved her face close to Jaden's, studying him intently. "I think you may've overdone it, Joey!"

Jaden looked over and saw the man who had attacked him earlier leaning calmly against the wall. His sword was now clipped to one of his belts. "Shuddup." he dispassionately commented.

The room they were in was sparse. A single table sat in the middle and, aside from a dresser and the bed Jaden was sitting on, that was it. Two doors led out of opposite sides of the room.

The man now known as Joey pushed himself off the wall. "Still...hard to believe that you, of all folks, are the chosen one..." he looked at Jaden for moment before the Keyblade appeared in the young boy's hand. "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Joey finished with a frown.

"Why don't you start making sense!" Jaden asked, becoming tired of Joey's ongoing insults, "What's going on here?"

"Okay," the girl who had identified herself as 'Serenity' began. "You know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?

Serenity had seated herself at the foot of a four poster bed in the hotel room that she had brought Daffy and Porky to. Most of the décor was red. Red outlining on white walls, red bedsheets, a red tablecloth, and two red doors.

"But they're supposed to be a secret." Porky looked around conspiratorially.

"They've been secret, because they've never been connected. Until now. When the Soulless came-," at the mention of the arrival of the Soulless, Serenity looked at floor for a moment, a sad glint going unnoticed in her eyes.

"-everything changed"

"The Soulless?" Jaden questioned from his place on the side of the bed.

"The ones who attacked you," Téa, who was sitting next to him, swinging her feet back and forth, reminded him. "You remember?"

"The little weird dudes without souls." Joey added.

Téa looked at Jaden, "The darkness in people's souls-that's what attracts them."

"And there is darkness in every soul." Joey continued his lesson, still without any noticeable tone.

"Hey!" Téa exclaimed, "Have you heard of someone named Shappard?"

"Sheppard?" Porky tested the name.

"He was studying the Soulless." Serenity explained. "He recorded all his findings in a very detailed report." At the mention of reports, Daffy began to tap his foot impatiently. He had had enough of reports when he was younger.

"Oh my, uh, can we see it?" Porky asked.

Serenity shook her head, "It's pages are scattered everywhere. To many worlds."

"Oh!" Porky hit upon an idea, "Then maybe the King went to find 'em!"

Daffy nodded in agreement.

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly." Serenity concurred.

Porky turned to leave. "We've gotta find him quick!"

Daffy sighed. As much as he wanted to get this over with, he was one to follow orders from the Rabbit."Wait! First we need that 'Key'!"

"That's right. The Keyblade." Serenity smiled from her place on the bed.

"So...this is the key?" Jaden asked as he swung the blade through the air a few times.

"Exactly." Téa affirmed with a nod.

Joey continued unemotionally,"The Soulless have great fear of the Keyblade," he turned and walked back to lean against the wall. "That's why they'll keep coming after ya. No matter what."

Jaden was quiet for moment. Here he was, a seventeen year old boy from Duel Academy. He's given a sword called a Keyblade, and had these freaky Soulless creatures follow him around, and now a Ninja-girl and an strange man name troubles were explaining all of this to him.

"Well, I-I-I didn't ask for this!" Jaden declared.

"The Keyblade chooses it's Master. And it chose you." Téa answered with a shrug.

Joey just waved him off, "So tough luck."

"But what happened to my home? My Island? To Zane?" Jaden desperately asked, "To...Alexis." he finished softly.

At the mention of his destroyed home, Jaden felt the atmosphere in the room change. Téa became very quiet and thoughtful, staring off into space. Joey became gruff.

"You know what? I really don't know." he answered.

Jaden thought he might've detected a hint of empathy in the man's abrupt answer, but he didn't have long to ponder if this was possible, since one of the Soulless had spirited itself into existence inside hotel room. This one differed from the normal shadows in that they seemed to be dressed up in metal armor.

Joey and Jaden jumped to their feet, "Téa, Run!" Joey yelled. The young girl sped over to the door Joey had been leaning beside and plowed through it.

"Téa?" Serenity's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of her friend. Téa ran past her and out the door without explanation. Serenity hastily followed. Daffy and Porky looked at each other and went after them.

Joey turned to Jaden. "Let's Role!" he announced as he used his sword to propel the Soldier Soulless through the door, sending it flying open. They followed after it. Jaden jumped off the balcony the door led to and into the alleyway below.

Joey looked down at Jaden. "Don't bother with the small fries," he ordered, "Find the leader." Jaden nodded as Joey veered off to search on his own.

Meanwhile, Porky and Daffy had gotten separated from Serenity and Téa, finding themselves on a balcony far above Traverse Town's Third District. Porky turned away from Daffy, who was fighting off Soulless with his wand, and noticed, far below, a boy with brown hair was running out from the Second District. In his hand, he held a strange, key-like sword. Porky wondered if it could be the Key that the King was looking for.

But his negligence of Daffy and Soulless proved to be a bad idea. Porky was unsure of how it happened, perhaps Daffy tried to conjure a larger spell than he should've, or the Soulless had somehow reacted strongly to one of his attacks, but the next thing Porky knew, Daffy had crashed into him, sending both of them flying off the balcony and into the Third District below.

As Jaden ran across the Third District, still looking for the leader Soulless that Joey had mentioned, he heard the sound of screams. Screams which were coming gradually closer. Screams that were coming... from above him?

Jaden quickly looked up to see a falling mass of...something. He couldn't tell what it was. He anxiously worried if it was a new type of Soulless and he began to run out of the falling thing's path.

Unfortunately, the next thing Jaden felt was the screaming mass crashing into his back, followed by the cobblestone in his face. It was cold and slightly damp.

It was then, quite suddenly, that the screaming stopped and two voices simultaneously yelled in his ears. "The Key!"

Jaden arched his neck around as best he could and found himself staring at a pig and a large-duck both laying atop him. He didn't know what to say, or even think. This was...What does one say to such things? Or even think? He had no idea.

Both creatures pulled themselves off Jaden, "We've been a'lookin' for you!" the pig creature spoke excitedly.

"For me?" Jaden questioned, still incredulous.

"You have the Key the Rabbit talked about!" the duck stated, as if it should be a well known fact.

Before Jaden could ask about their King or his Key, the ground began to shake and something large crashed to the ground behind him. Jaden turned to find himself looking at a giant, purple-metallic Soulless.

It's arms and feet floated in the air, spaced away from the rest of the body by magnetic force. It's head looked much like a knight's helm, with a mask hiding the face. It spun a few times in place and began to advance toward the three, Jaden, the duck and the pig. Jaden guessed this was the leader.

Jaden looked behind him quickly and saw the duck summoning what looked to be a wand. The pig was unstrapping a shield from his back.

Figuring that they were joining him in battle, Jaden turned back into a ready stance just in time to be on the receiving end of the Knight Soulless' pointed hand, which had been spinning at a high velocity in his direction.

Jaden felt the metal arm crash into him, feeling a sharp pain as a few ribs must've cracked. He screamed in agony as he flew through the air, crashing into one of the buildings and sliding to the ground. He groaned and vomited as his world spun. He looked up and, through the spinning and the pain, thought he saw the Soulless coming toward him again. He recalled the Keyblade to his hand(it had disappeared when he had hit the wall) and used it to help him stand. His world spun faster and a spike of pain shot through him from his broken ribs. Jaden just glimpsed the Soulless Knight monster still coming towards him.

Suddenly, he felt the duck with the wand by his side. The duck mumbled a word that sounded like "Cure" and Jaden felt, rather than saw, a glowing green light around him for a few seconds. He felt one last twist of pain as his ribs snapped back into place, but it was over within a moment. Next, his vision started clearing and the world around him took on stability. He looked over at the duck questioningly.

The duck shrugged. "You still gotta be careful, kid. My spell has healed you, but you're still gonna be sore and susceptible to injury easier."

Jaden nodded and the duck pushed him out of the way just as a giant fist smashed down right where Jaden had been. The ground around it cracked and collapsed, creating a small crater in the stone. Jaden quickly did a spinning slash while the hand was distracted and cut through the air between the Soulless' right foot and it's body. The foot's connection seemed to have been severed and it tipped to the ground with an empty clang. The Soulless took another swing at Jaden, but he dodged straight under it, disconnecting the other foot as well.

Jaden smiled to himself, thinking the monster would now collapse, but when he turned, he saw that it was now floating with no legs. The Soulless began to spin it's arms around itself again, keeping anyone from getting close.

Luckily, ducks who knew magic didn't need to be close.

Jaden watched in amazement as the duck called out a command of "Thunder!" and a straight bolt of lightning shot out from his wand and connected with the Soulless in the dead center of it's torso. The monster froze. Small lines of lightning leaped across it's body.

"Down!" the duck yelled.

Jaden collapsed to the ground just in time, as the torso of the Soulless exploded in a burst of light. He thought that it must be dead now.

Hearing chunks of metal crash into the ground around him, Jaden opened his eyes to find the monster still floating in the air. Now just a knightly armored head, and two floating arms.

He couldn't believe this.

The monster glanced around the area, as if wondering where it's body had gone. It then began to spin it's arms around it's head again, and floated slowly towards them.

Jaden groaned inwardly, and looked over at the pig and the duck. Something caught his attention. The shield in the pig's hands.

"Hey, can you get me close enough to the Soulless without being hit by it's arms?" Jaden hurriedly asked, pointing toward the pig's shield.

"I guess I can." The pig nodded.

Jaden smiled and moved behind his ally.

The pig advanced his way toward the beast, with Jaden standing behind him. The spinning arms of the Soulless began to beat against the shield, but the pig held his ground, even pushing forward a little.

"How much -fat-farg-fard- farther?" he yelled over the constant clanging against his shield.

"Now should be good!" Jaden yelled back, "Hold still!"

Jaden moved back a bit and and took off running toward the pig's back. Upon reaching it, he jumped up to the shoulders of the pig and used them to propel himself toward the head of the Soulless.

As Jaden came down high above the swinging arms, he fancied that the Soulless' eyes would've widened if it had eyes to widen. Throwing this thought aside, he brought the Keyblade down with a mighty slash on the monster's head. The helmet soared into the wall across the District, hitting it with a mighty crash. The arms fell to the ground and the all that was left melted away into darkness.

Jaden landed on his feet, using one hand to support him.

After a moment of silence he, the pig and the duck all broke out into cheers of victory and slaps of congratulations on each others' backs. They were all too busy celebrating to notice that a large, glowing soul had floated into the sky from where the Armored Soulless' head had been.

Jaden laughed and wiped his forehead with his arm, "So, you two were really looking for me?"

Both of them laughed and nodded.

"They too have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade." came a familiar, monotonous voice from behind.

Jaden turned to find Joey and Téa, the latter nodding in agreement with the former.

"Hey!" The pig began, "Why doncha come with us? We can ge-agoo-go to other worlds on our ship!"

Jaden looked down at the ground, and quietly spoke , "I wonder if I could find Zane and Alexis..."

The duck smirked a bit at this, "Of course you could!" he promised. Jaden's head jerked up in surprise.

"Really?" his eyes widened with hope.

The pig looked at the duck in confusion. He grabbed the duck by the arm and dragged him out of hearing distance.

"Are you sure?" Porky asked skeptically.

"Who knows?" Daffy whispered slyly and pointed to the boy, "But we need him to come with us to help us find the Rabbit.."

Daffy winked at Porky, and walked back toward Jaden. Porky just nodded, unsure, and followed his friend.

Sensing indecision on behalf of the young Keyblade Master, Joey stepped forward. "Jaden, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."

Jaden nodded at Joey, "Yeah...I guess." he sighed.

"But you can't come along looking like that. Understand, kid?" the duck quacked, "No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"

"Yeah, ya gotta look looney, like us!" The pig chuckled.

The duck frowned at the pig and pushed him out of the way, "This boat runs on happy faces." he continued.

"Happy?" Jaden asked sadly. He didn't know if he could be happy without knowing his friends and family were okay. But, he knew that if he had any chances of finding them, he had to think positively.

Jaden lifted his head up, smiling a smile that was known back on the Islands as "Jaden's Porky Grin" or at least that was what Alexis had dubbed it.

All was quiet for another moment, then the duck and the pig fell over in laughter, Téa pointed at Jaden with giggles, and Joey just rolled his eyes at the ridiculous nature of the event.

"That's one funny face!" The pig choked from his place on the ground.

A small, normal, smile placed itself on Jaden's face, "Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys."

Apparently feeling that introductions were long overdue, the duck reached out his hand, "Daffy Duck" he stated his name.

The pig caught on. "Name's Porky!" he reached out a hand as well.

"Well, I'm Jaden." Jaden put out his hand. All three placed their hands on top of each others'.

"All for one, one for all!" Porky chuckled.

Jaden looked at these two new faces he would be traveling with for the foreseeable future. A duck who seemed to be able to wield magic, and a pig who carried a shield. Odd companions to be sure, but Jaden knew he'd get used to it. They might not exactly be his friends, but they were at least traveling comrades.

Jaden smiled.

At least he wasn't alone anymore.

Joey watched as Jaden, Daffy and Porky turned and walked toward the First District and the outer gates of Traverse Town. Joey thought Daffy was explaining something about the usage of Fire spells to Jaden. Something like that, he couldn't quite hear.

Joey smirked slightly as they disappeared out of he had underestimated that kid. Maybe there was something to this. He knew he had to go tell the others. This could be what they had been waiting all this time for.

"Man, Joey! Did you see that? Jaden took down that big soulless! That was amazing! Maybe the Keyblade chose the right wielder!" Téa exclaimed in long sentences beside him, rocking on her heels. "C'mon! Let's get back to the others!"

Joey watched Téa race off toward the Fourth District and where they normally gathered at Mai's house.

He thought Téa was right. Maybe the Keyblade had chosen the right Master. Maybe, someday. This boy will find their lost friend... The King of Games.

Maybe it had.

On the other side of the Galaxy, a collection of beings were gathered around a stone table, watching the events that had unfolded in Traverse Town.

"That little squirt took down that Soulless! Who'd have thought it" a slick-voice spoke in abject surprise.

"Such is the power of the Keyblade," a lofty British accent scoffed, "The child's strength is not his own."

"Why don't we turn him into a Soulless?" a deep, female voice laughed, "That'll settle things quick enough!"

"And the brat's friends are the King's lackeys! Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilge rats by the look of them!" another voice spoke in horror.

A deep, male voice chuckled."You're no prize yourself!"

"Shut Up!"

"Enough." a high, echoing female voice commanded. "The Keyblade has chosen him...Will it be he who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him?"

A woman stepped out into plain sight.

She wore a large, voluminous black cloak and had a strange eye jutting from her head. Large vampire looking wings from her shoulders. Her skin tone was between pale pink and sickly white; her left eye were green and the right is green.

"Either way, he could be quite useful..." She smiled malevolently.

On the same side of the galaxy, Zane Truesdale awoke.

His whole body felt stiff. Like the mornings after dueling with Jaden all the previous day. His left leg seemed to be resting in a few inches of water. The rest of his body was laying, face down, on cold, wet stone.

Zane stretched his legs and arms, painfully pushed himself to his feet, and shook his leg to get any water out he could.

When he looked up, he wondered if he was still dreaming.

A long, stone pathway cut through reflecting pools of water. A few yards ahead of him, the pathway split into two more pathways heading out on either side, eventually disappearing into the thick fog that blanketed the area. The path did the same another few yards behind him.

Other than that, the main path continued onward toward an imposing gate surrounding an area that seemed to have held a garden at one point. Beyond that, Zane could just glimpsed a massive door.

"Where...am...I?" Zane mumbled to himself. Heturned about, adamantly telling himself that he wasn't confused. He just needed to explore. Gather some info. Then he'd set out to find-

Then it hit him. It hit him in such rapid succession that he bowed over at his waist like he'd been gut-punched.

The Island.

The Door.

The Darkness.

Jaden.

Alexis.

Home.

Zane ran his hand anxiously through his hair. He had to keep his cool. He had too. Stay calm was his first rule. Keeping calm allowed him to keep control, and that's what was important.

He took a deep breath.

Then he screamed. He screamed Jaden's name. He screamed Alexis' name. He almost screamed for help before he stopped himself. There was no need for that. No one was answering him anyway.

He took a heavy breath in. The mist seemed to close in around him, entrapping him in a box of vapor. He couldn't see beyond the mist. Who knew what was on the other side of it? He was in what he could only guess to be another world. He finally had gotten his wish, only to find that he still longed to know what was beyond the mists.

Suddenly, this place felt a lot like home.


	6. Chapter V: Through The Looking Glass

**Chapter V: Through The Looking Glass**

_"Up, Down, Left, Right... whatever shall you take."_

"Welcome to the de-de-de-a-de-dea-dea... Duck Dodger Ship, Jaden!" Porky grinned.

Jaden nodded numbly, staring in awe at the room he had arrived in. The ship itself seemed to have self-landed outside the city, and they had walked into the ship through a ramp in the hallway and were now standing in the cockpit; three seats placed in front of a panel of colorful controls, levers, and buttons. Above that was a large, curved window looking out over the blank landscape outside of Traverse Town. A small couch was sitting against the side wall.

Porky pointed down the hall, "There are two bedrooms down de-de-a-de-de-a thataway. You can have one and me and Daffy'll share the other." At this, Daffy noticeably balked at the loss of his room, and was about to complain, but Porky covered the duck's mouth, "Past them is the kitchen at the end of the hall,with the bathroom off that!"

"Porky! Be quiet! He'll figure it out himself..." Daffy pushed past Porky's hands.

"Wow...this..is so cool!" Jaden laughed excitedly, the numbness now wearing off, quickly replaced by a feeling of "I'm-in-a-spaceship!" Jaden ran over and sat down in the foremost seat. Thrilled, he lifted his hand above the control panel, not particularly caring which button did what.

"Don't press anything!" Daffy quacked angrily, rapping Jaden's hand with his wand. "And get out of my chair!"

Jaden sulked out of the chair, nursing his wounded hand."Awww..."

"It's almost be-be-beba bedtime, Jaden, we're gonna take off." Porky offered, "Why doncha head down to your room and ge-ge-ga-gege-a- get some shut-eye. It's the one on the right"

"I have bedtimes, even here?" Jaden sighed as he watched his dreams of this spaceship fall apart.

"Hmm...I guess you kinda do!" Porky said happily after a moment of thought.

Jaden nodded, resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be touching the controls or staying up late anytime soon.

"We'll be at the first world before morning." Daffy announced without looking up from the controls.

This slightly lifted Jaden's mood and he raced off to his room, leaving the cockpit to the grumbled complaints of Daffy.

Jaden laid prone on his blue-sheeted bed, staring listlessly at the ceiling. His room was nothing special to speak of, just a desk and a bureau. Dark-blue walls adorned with paintings of a bright white and blue castle. A curtained window was close next to his bed.

Daffy had said they would be at a new world in the morning. He could only wonder what it would be like. Aliens? Monsters? A slave-world ruled by a tyrant? Jaden shook his head. It was hard to believe he was actually heading to new world, new worlds that he and Zane had only speculated about before two days ago. Maybe they would find Alexis' home out here.

As Jaden felt the Dodger accelerate, he peeked out through the light-blue curtains, mouth dropping in awe.

As far as space seen from Duel Academy went, all that was seen was the pale white moon at night and evening, and the scattered yellow and white stars. Plus the occasional meteor shower.

But what Jaden saw now was something that went far beyond anything he had seen before.

Purple, green, and blue nebulaes flew past, swirling portraits of color throughout the vastness of space.

More common, though, were reds, oranges and yellows. Little pricks of yellow dotted the blue. Red and orange churned together to make bright displays on the galactic canvas. Jaden wondered if even the greatest artists of Duel Academy could paint something this magnificent. He gripped tightly onto the crown pendant. He couldn't wait to tell Alexis and Zane about this.

Watching the stars fly past, Jaden's mind traveled back to the last he had seen his friends.

Zane on the Paopu Islet...the darkness covering him, eating him, sucking him in. Then he was gone.

What had happened to him?

He had spoken of the door that had been opened, of the darkness, just like that man in the Abanonded Dorm.

Could that man have taken Zane? Or could Zane have left of his own will?

It certainly sounded like the latter, it hadn't looked like the man had done anything aside from stand in the Abandoned Dorm and be ominous.

Then there was Alexis.

Jaden was, quite frankly, more worried about Alexis. He knew that Zane could handle himself, even better than Jaden himself could. He had faith that nothing terrible was going to happen to Zane, but he was anxious about Alexis' wellbeing.

Last year, ever since that meteor shower, Jaden had felt the need to protect Alexis. To keep her safe.

And now? Now what? Alexis was gone, and he couldn't protect her. He knew she had more than enough willpower to hold off almost anything, but when it came to physically defending herself...well, she had always liked dueling better than sitting. Plus, there was the unsettling nature of the last time he saw her. In his mind's eye, he watched as Alexis turned and looked at him with blank, grey irises. He flinched as he remembered the door opening and Alexis disappearing. Jaden swallowed and turned away from the window. No need to dwell on sad memories, it'd be better to just focus on a positive future. A positive future of finding Zane and Alexis. Jaden smiled and allowed the drone of the Dodger Shop to lull him to sleep.

"We're here! Le Pays Maudit!"

Jaden awoke, hearing Daffy's muffled announcement over the intercom. Seeing the intercom as a beast attempting to wake him from his slumber, he threw a pillow at it and went back to sleep. A few minutes later, Jaden heard his door slide open. He hoped whoever it was would leave him alone to sleep, so he purposely ignored the invader.

He soon felt a tingling sensation travel throughout his body, working it's way from his middle to the extremities. Soon enough, he no longer felt a bed beneath him, he simply felt nothing. But that wasn't to last, because he felt the wind whooshing past his ears as he fell through the air. But this to was not last either, because he and the ground soon became intimately acquainted. What had Daffy done? Teleported him? Was that how they left the Duck Dodger Ship?

"Great place to land us in, Daffy." Jaden said sarcastically, rubbing a bump on his head. They had landed in a small tunnel with a cozy atmosphere. For some reason that Jaden didn't understand, furniture appeared to have been painted onto the walls.

Daffy turned red, "It isn't exact, you-!"

"I'm late! I'm late!" A small, stout blue creature with exclaimed as it ran past the trio, glancing back at the forest. The blue creature was dressed in a little white pants with a white bennie on his head..

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" the blue creature mumbled, sliding around a corner and disappearing. Jaden, Daffy and Porky stared in the direction the forest gone, all wondering where it had come from. The tunnel they were standing in ended right behind them, so had the Blue guy fallen from the sky above with them?

"I'm so late!" the Blue's nasally voice echoed from beyond the corner.

"Let's follow it!" Daffy quacked and sped off after it.

Jaden quickly shrugged off the fact of a Blue Creature talking and being late, the same way he had shrugged off a talking duck that knew magic and a talking pig that had a shield, following the Blue Creature as well down what could only be described as a Forest Hole.

Turning the corner, Jaden found himself staring into another cozy looking spot in the forest. The only light in the room came from a small soul glowing fiery in the corner, casting a red glow over the two soft, brown tree stumps.

"Oh my! We-ah-wah-what was all that about?" Porky wondered and relaxed in the larger of the two tree stomps, warming his hands by the fire. Daffy was busy searching the room for where the Blue creature could've disappeared to.

"Where could that thing have gone..." Daffy mumbled, looking under the bushes. Jaden turned from watching the fire.

"Is that another door down there, Daffy?" he asked as he got down on his knees to get a better look. Sure enough, it was a small door, no taller than foot high, that had been missed in the low lighting. "He must've gone through here."

"How'd he get so small?" Daffy poked at the stomp.

"No, you're simply too big!" replied the stomp, matter-of-factly. "Now, would you please remove your hand from my nose, it's quite bothersome."

"WAH! It talks!" screeched Daffy, stumbling back. Jaden looked closer and saw that the stomp had sprouted eyes above the knob and the keyhole had become a mouth.

Jaden wondered what kind of world this was. It wasn't what he and Zane had expected.

"Must you be so loud?" The stomp continued, yawning. "You woke me up."

"Good mornin'!" Porky waved happily from his place in the stomp.

"Good night!" The stomp replied succinctly, "I need a bit more sleep..." With that, it's eyes began to close.

"Wait!" Jaden moved closer to the stomp to keep it awake, "What do we have to do to grow small?"

"Why don't you try the bottle...Over there." the stomp gestured its nose toward the two bottles on the table. One was blue, the other was red. Jaden didn't stop to think how bad of an idea it was to drink from strange bottles on strange tables, or after a stomp tells you to do so, but walked over and grabbed both of the bottles.

"Jaden, maybe we should-" Porky began, finally moving from his stomp, but Jaden had already chugged down a large amount of the blue bottle, the only one he seemed able to open. "-think about this first."

Daffy and Porky found themselves staring with large eyes at Jaden for a few moments. The stomp, now forgotten and not really caring to be remembered, fell back asleep.

Daffy spoke slowly. "How do you feel, Jaden?"

"I..." Jaden began. "It tasted like blueberries."

The room fell to silence again, everyone still watching Jaden for any changes.

"Aw, who cares!" Daffy finally shrugged and took a sip of the blue bottle. Porky followed suit and hesitantly drank as well.

For another few minutes, everyone watched each other for changes.

"Well, that was pointle-" Daffy began, but in one huge puff, he had disappeared.

Jaden looked around quickly, trying to see if the duck had moved. Suddenly, Porky disappeared as well.

"Uh...guys?" Jaden asked out loud, finally realizing that taking a drink of an unknown liquid might not have been the best course of action. The next thing Jaden knew, he was staring at the sleeping stomp at eye level.

"Finally, Jaden, it took you awhile!" Daffy said from behind. Jaden turned and found himself looking up at the room they had been in. The table and stomps had grown huge and the blue and red bottles lay dropped on the floor beside him.

Porky chuckled. "I guess it worked! We're tiny now!"

"So we can fit through the door!" Jaden exclaimed and ran over to said stomp.

"Hey there!" Jaden greeted as he approached it. "Mr. Stomp?"

The stomp replied with a snore.

"Stomp? Hello?" Jaden knocked on him, resulting in only a snort, a grunt, and more snores.

"Hey, Jaden! Take a lookie here!" Porky pointed toward a small hole in the ground, gone unnoticed until now.

"Awesome!" Jaden smiled. They were gonna see what was beyond this room. This world had been very strange so far and Jaden wondered just how far it was going to go. More importantly, though, he wondered if Alexis or Zane were here.

"Not-so-awesome..." Jaden moaned as he tumbled from a bush into plushy grass, "Ah, my back...in pain..." He didn't stop to wonder how the hole had brought them out through a bush. It wasn't worth it. Some things in this lovely place just...happened.

Unfortunately for Jaden, no sooner had he sat up than Daffy popped out of the bushes and fell on top of him; followed by Porky.

"Urgh." Jaden moaned from the underneath the two creatures. "Get offa me!" he pushed himself up, throwing them off in the process, but he stopped short when he saw what lay in front of him: An army of blue creatures, all about his size, stood around a makeshift line. A young girl with long blonde hair and a pink suit stood before a tall platform on which sat a large man in a throne with a small crown settled on her head and black robe around his skinny form. He was tapping a short scepter in impatience. The room itself was fenced in by large hedges, similar to the one Jaden, Daffy and Porky had just fallen from.

The blue creature known as the smurf appeared from a behind a hedge to the right and ran quickly up a small staircase to a tower off the large platform and blew a golden horn.

"Court is now in session!" it panted.

The girl turned in shock to the smurf, "I'm on trial? But why?"

"His Majesty, Gargamel!" the smurf continued, ignoring the girls' question.

The obtuse man on the platform began to speak firmly. "This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it." the smurf nodded its head in agreement as the Hooded Wizard continued, "And the reason is...because I say so, that's why!"

Jaden watched the proceedings from a sitting position behind it all. This whole place was so odd.

"Th—that is so unfair!" the girl weakly defended.

The hooded wizard leaned forward haughtily, "Well, have you anything to say in your defense?"

"Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong!" the girl wagged her finger at the Wizard. At this, Jaden noticed the girl's eyes widen and its head swivel around. It seemed to be looking for a route of escape. Jaden wondered why. "You may be king, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so...so mean!" the girl finished. At this, the smurf jumped from it's pedestal and disappeared from sight.

The Wizard's jaw trembled and released a scream of "Silence!" that sent gusts of wind blowing throughout the entire courtroom. "You dare defy me!"

"Hey guys..." Jaden spoke quietly in the back, so as to not draw undue attention to themselves, "Maybe we should help the girl out..."

"Yeah kiddo...but the-" Daffy began.

"We're outsiders, so-so-soa-so wouldn't that be muddling?" Porky finished for Daffy.

"Meddling!" Daffy corrected angrily in a whisper.

"Right, meddling! And that's against the rules." Porky chuckled.

Jaden cocked his head in confusion and continued to listen to the verdict.

The Wizard pounded upon the table in front of her. "The court finds the defendant guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my soul..."

At the words, "Attempted theft of my soul..."Jaden's head perked up. Souls. Theft. Isn't that what the Soulless do? Jaden bet they were the ones who had tried to steal that Wizard's soul. The girl didn't seem the type to even contemplated doing such a thing, he had seen it in her blue eyes when she had turned away from the Wizard's screaming. In fact, now that he thought about it, the young girl's eyes reminded him a lot of Alexis'...

"...OFF WITH HER HEAD!" the Wizard screamed. His card army all turned toward the girl, axes raised. Jaden knew then that now matter how much meddling was against the rules, he was going to help this girl, and anyone else who needed help. In whatever world.

Forgetting about Daffy and Porky, who stayed back, Jaden began to push his way through the sea of cards that had formed around the girl.

"Wait just a minute!" he yelled out to stall for time.

The Wizard stood up on his platform, scanning the crowd of cards. "Who are you?" his soldiers folded back, leaving Jaden to stand in the middle of the courtroom with the girl standing beside him. She was now peering at him questioningly. " How dare you interfere with my court?" the Wizard demanded.

"Well, you see, I, uh, know who the real culprit is!" Jaden announced.

Porky raised his hand from the other side of the mass, "Uh-huh. It's the Soullle-"

Daffy quickly covered Porky's mouth, pushing him back towards the bushes.

"Anyway," Jaden continued, "she's not the one you're looking for."

The Wizard drummed his fingers, "That's nonsense. Have you any proof?"

"Uhhh..." Jaden stuttered.

"Guards! Lock the girl in the cage." two of the soldiers walked up and dragged the girl out of the courtroom. "And you three fools..." he pointer his wand on Jaden, Daffy and Porky. "Bring me evidence of Penelope's innocence, or it's off with ALL your heads. Now get out of my court!"

Jaden gulped and left through the same way the smurgs who had taken the girl had gone. Daffy and Porky followed behind.

"Jaden!" Daffy yelled at him. "What have you gotten us into?"

"I...I don't know exactly. I just knew that we had to help." Jaden said without looking back.

Porky came up behind him and placed a large hand on his shoulder. "Wow, Jaden, that's really nice of you."

Jaden smiled and nodded at Porky. "We need to find that girl and find out what we did get into..."

"We?" Daffy stomped his foot. "I didn't get us into anything! Porky didn't get us into anything-"

"Excuse me, but who are you?" A soft voice interrupted. Jaden turned to see a a cage with a purple velvet curtain hanging from it, split at the middle revealing the young girl.

The Keyblade Master smiled. "I'm Jaden, and that's Daffy and Porky."he said, pointing toward said companions. Daffy didn't look happy, arms crossed and foot tapping. Porky was smelling a rose.

"Pleased to meet you," the girl curtsied from within in the cage, "though I do wish it were under better circumstances." she glanced back towards the courtroom, visible over the hedges. Jaden swallowed and nodded in agreement. "I'm Penelope Pistop, by the way." the girl introduced herself. "Thank you for your offer to help me, it is really quite kind of yall."

"It's no problem." Jaden answered, "Do you have any idea where we can get proof that you didn't try to steal the Wizard's soul?"

"You might try and talk to the Snagglepuss, he's a odd fellow. He was the one who sent me to the Wizard in the first place. I met him in the forest, if that at all helps." Penelope offered.

Jaden nodded, "We'll find some evidence, I'm sure of it. You'll be out of there in no time!"

Penelope offered her gratitude again, as Jaden grabbed Daffy and Porky and went off to find the Snagglepuss. As he walked away he heard Penelope speaking to herself about how she should've stayed away from the silly the Evil Wizard's Castle.

"Waaahh!" Daffy quacked as a branch rebounded and hit him in the forehead, sending him sprawling to the ground. "You just had to get involved! Why? Why did you have to meddle? Why did you involve us? Me!"

"I couldn't just let the girl get her head chopped off, Daffy." Jaden retorted, "Plus, the Soulless are involved...maybe we can stop 'em here! Plus..." Jaden leaned toward Daffy, conspiratorially. "I swear that flower just spoke! How cool is that?"

Daffy blinked at Jaden for a moment, not believing the boy's carefree attitude. He sighed."None of this was our mission- WAAAAAHHH!" Daffy screamed again as pink cat appeared in front of him. Or, more specifically, just the head of a cat; and this head was grinning wide. "What are you?" Daffy asked.

Jaden's and Porky's eyes widened as they watched the floating head bounce back and forth a bit, grin still attached, and then disappear; only to reappear in front of Jaden's face, this time, with a cat body balancing on one foot atop it.

"What, indeed?" the Cat replied, still standing on it's head, "Poor Penelope. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"

"Hey, if you know who the culprit is, tell us!" Jaden prodded the Cat as it persisted in its balancing act.

"Snagglepuss has all the answers-" the cat smiled wider, if that were possible, "But doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness."

"What?" Jaden asked, perplexed, but the cat had already faded away into nothing.

The Cat's voice continued from all around them, "They've already left the forest. I won't tell which exit. Find the evidence, big reward if you do."

Daffy asked the obvious, "Should we trust him?"

"To trust, or not to trust?" the voice came from behind. They all turned to see the cat, properly connected now, hanging from a branch by its pink tail. "I trust you'll decide!" with that, it faded away again.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky all looked at each other, thoroughly confused.

"Did either of you catch any of that?" Jaden asked. Both of his companions shook their heads.

"I guess we-e-e-a-e-ah-ea-ah should start a'lookin for an exit in the forest!" Porky supplied.

They searched high and low. Underneath logs and up in trees for the better part of the afternoon. And, aside from some talking flowers and the far away rumbles of an angry Wizard, they heard and found nothing.

"Gah! This is a waste of time!" Daffy screamed, "We should be looking for the King! Not some some evidence of a girl's innocence!"

Jaden popped out from inside a dead and collapsed tree trunk he had been searching, "Don't you think your King would want you to help Penelope?" he asked simply. Daffy's jaw flexed, but no words came out.

"Hmmm..." Jaden pulled himself out of the rotting trunk. They had run into one suspicious tree. It had been really, really big. Kinda reminded him of the tree on Kinshou back home, the one the Abandoned Dorm was inside. Jaden, surprising himself, began to connect some dots in his mind. If that tree was so huge, maybe it was hollow as well. He wondered briefly how he was figuring this out, it didn't really feel like him doing the thinking, but if the that tree was anything like the Abandoned Dorm...

Jaden's thoughts were then interrupted by one overarching, grim thought.

The Abandoned Dorm didn't exist anymore.

"Hey guys? I want to head back to the one really big tree, I think there might be something we missed."

Porky nodded and followed after him, Daffy rolled his eyes but followed anyway, mumbling the whole time.

"This is the one!" Jaden said when the reached the suspicious tree. He called the Keyblade to his hand and began to concentrate.

He thought about the stuff Daffy had taught him regarding Fire Magic, about how you concentrate on heat and flames and fire. Jaden began to feel a warmth spread through his body. He then took control of that warmth, forcing it toward the tip of his Keyblade.

"Fire-Ookazi!" he whispered.

A small ball of fire shot from the tip of the Keyblade and exploded against the trunk of the tree, forming a neat hole in it's side.

The tree was hollow. Just like Alexis had thought. Wait? Alexis? Alexis hadn't thought of it, he had. So why did it feel like it had been Alexis' idea? Jaden chuckled and shook his head to clear the odd feeling away.

He glanced briefly over at Daffy, who's subtle nod betrayed his impressed state. Jaden grinned and moved through the new hole, still smoldering. The exit had to be in there somewhere. Fortunately for him, sunlight shone through the hole and illuminated a path of light in front of him, and at the far end of that area of light was a box.

Was this the evidence?

"Well, look what you've found." the cat's voice spoke. Jaden looked to his right and saw the floating eyes and smile of the cat in the dark, just off the lit area.

"The evidence is all wrapped up in a box? Just like that?" Jaden found this just a bit too odd.

The cat tilted it's smiling, floating facial features and blinked, "Why? Doesn't all evidence come in boxes?"

Jaden shook his head, "Nevermind. Now we can save Penelope!"

The cat's smile continued unabated, "Don't be so sure! She may be innocent, but what about you?"

Jaden's raised and eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

The cat continued its creepy smile, "I won't tell," it chuckled, "But I'll give you something."

Jaden suddenly felt freezing cold flow through him. He didn't remember ever feeling this cold before in his life. But just as soon as he felt the chills seep into his bones, they stopped.

"What was...?"

"Let it snow!" The cat chuckled a bit more and its eyes blinked out. Then it's teeth followed suit, one-by-one.

Jaden shook his head at the strangeness and made his way out of the trunk.

"Didja find anything?" Porky asked.

Jaden hefted the small box in his hand and smiled.

"Let's go get Penelope."

"One Box. Choose, fool!" The Hooded ordered.

Jaden's jaw dropped. Choose one evidence at random? His versus his? That's how he ran his court? He briefly looked at the cage Penelope was held it. It had been brought into the courtroom for the session. Penelope just smiled half-heartedly and gave him an encouraging nod.

"But-"

"You dare defy me! Then you shall lose YOUR head!" the Wizard pounded on his table again.

Jaden's eyes flitted between the two boxes of evidence the Wizard had mixed up. One was his. The other was his. Whichever he chose would be the one he would base her judgment on.

"Hurry up! I haven't got all day!" The Wizard bellowed.

Jaden nodded, but kept glancing between the two boxes, completely unsure. He looked to Daffy and Porky for help, but Porky just stared back at him blankly and Daffy gave him a "You got yourself into this one, pal." look. No help from them.

Abruptly, there was a flash and Jaden felt the Keyblade in his hand.

What could it want?

He suddenly began to feel it tug at him, pulling him ever-so-slightly toward the left box. Jaden looked oddly at the box before deciding to trust the Keyblade.

"So that's your choice? Finally. Let us see." One of the smurgs walked up to it and removed the lid. Only to promptly fall back in surprise as a small Soulless Soldier jumped from the box and disappeared into a portal of darkness..

The Hooded Wizard leapt to his feet, "What in the world was that?" he screamed.

Jaden smiled and thanked the Keyblade, "There's your evidence. Penelope is innocent."

The Hooded Wizard's face reddened significantly. Jaden began to wonder how she didn't burst a blood vessel.

"Rrrrrrrrrghhh...SILENCE! I AM THE LAW HERE!" his scream shook the area "Article 29: Anyone who defies the Hooded Wizard is guilty!"

Daffy jumped from his place to the side, "That's crazy!" he shouted.

"Seize them! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" The Hooded Wizard demanded, pounding the table in front of him so hard that it cracked down the middle.

The cards began mobilizing themselves toward Jaden, while one stumbled over to the cage and covered it in the velvet cloth, hiding Penelope from view. Daffy and Porky ran over to join their companion.

"You get-te-ate-a- Penelope from that there cage! We'll hold off the cards!" Porky told Jaden..

Jaden nodded and ran over to the cage, beating a card or two from his way. A few steps before he could reach it, though, a large card blocked his path. It held a large mace in its hands, chuckling slightly at the sight of the small boy in front of him. The card brought it's mace up above it's head, intending to crush the unarmed boy into the ground, but Jaden brought the Keyblade into existence, ready to block the downward blow.

After a few minutes of dueling the massive card, Jaden built up enough energy to call upon Fire Magic again, and used it to catch the card on fire. It ran away screaming into the foliage.

Jaden reached up and grabbed the purple cloth from the cage, ripping it off in one smooth motion. But when he looked into the cell, he found nothing. No Penelope, and no trace of her getting away. It was just empty. How had she gotten out?

"She's—she's gone!" Jaden yelled.

Immediately, all the fighting stopped and every eye turned toward the cage. It was indeed empty. Locked and empty. Penelope was gone.

"She must've gotten kidnapped while we were fighting..." Daffy muttered, calling down a small lighting bolt to fry the card in front of him while it was distracted with the empty cage. No one seemed to notice or care at their comrade being felled so unceremoniously.

"You fools!" the Hooded Wizard screamed, upturning the cracked table. "Find the one who's behind this! I don't care how!" The cards all ran off to do their mistress' bidding. Find the missing Girl, find the person who kidnapped her. A few heads would probably roll in the end.

Jaden ran over to Porky and Daffy and whispered. "Maybe the Snagglepuss knows. I say we find him."

Upon entering the forest for a second time, Jaden immediately noticed a large rock that hadn't been there before. Sitting atop it was none-other than the Snagglepuss, now resting on it's arms with the whole the rest of it's body pointing into the air. Jaden marveled briefly at the simplicity of finding the cat.

"Have you seen Penelope?" he asked without missing a beat, he was becoming used to this odd place.

"Penelope, no. Shadows, yes!" The Cat continued its never-abating smile.

"Where did they go?" Porky questioned.

The Cat pointed left with its foot,"This way?" the cat then switched to point right, "That way? Does it matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows!" the Cat chortled, "Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside-down room!" the cat knocked its tail against the rock below him, cocked his ears as if listening, then chuckled. It's body then disappeared and the head bounced once and rolled away.

Jaden shook his head, "That Cat's crazy..."

"So, uh, whadda we do?" Porky asked no one in particular.

"We go back to the Dodger Ship..." Daffy mumbled.

Jaden ignored the duck. "We go deeper into the forest, just like the cat said." With that, Jaden turned and walked deeper into odd forest of Le Pays Maudit. As he walked, he began to wonder if this was what all worlds were like. He laughed to himself when he imagined Zane's face at seeing this world. He wondered if Zane had discovered another world already. Could he there now? Jaden wondered what other worlds were out there. Could they be stranger than this one? With it's Snaggulepuss and warring cards? Or were there more like the Island?

The Island that don't exist.

This time, Jaden didn't push the thought away. As he walked through the forests with Daffy and Porky trailing behind, he thought about his home. It was gone. All of his home had been destroyed and, for all he knew, he was the only living citizen of Duel Academy. The only survivor. Jaden blinked back a few tears. His home was gone. His best friends were missing and and now he was searching for Shadows on the whimsical order of an perpetually-grinning cat. Jaden took a deep breath. He had to think positively. It'll be fine in the end, he'd find Zane and Alexis and then would then find a way to get the Island back. He dried his tears and smiled again. Together, they'd make sure everything turned out fine-

With a resounding smash, the distracted Jaden found himself repelled by an unknown force.

"Oof..." Jaden groaned as he fell back to the ground. What had happened? He reached forward and pressed his hands against what seemed to be...a wall? A wall painted like the forest?

Daffy waddled up beside him and tapped his wand against the object.

"It's a wall! Oh well, I guess we need to turn around!" Daffy turned and began to walk back.

Porky began to help Jaden up. "Hey, lookie here, Jaden! There's a small hole-leolea- here in the wall!"

As Jaden stood up, sure enough, there was a small dark hole in the wall, just left of where he had crashed.

"Could this be what that Cat was talkin' about?" Porky wondered aloud.

Jaden walked over and began to climb through, "C'mon! Let's see!" Porky followed. Daffy groaned.

"Why me...why can't we just find the King?"

When they walked out of the darkened tunnel, they arrived in a room that reminded Jaden much of the first room in Le Pays Maudit, the one with the sleepy stomp. In fact, it looked almost exactly the same.

"They're hiding somewhere." the Snagglepuss said, appearing against the wall. "And the momeraths outgrabe. You want to find the shadows?" it's eyebrows quirked, "Try turning on the lights." the cat then faded away.

"Stupid Cat!" Daffy muttered in annoyance.

Jaden was looking around for something to light, a switch, a lantern, a torch, anything, when he noticed something important.

"Guys...is that the door room up there?" he pointed up. Sure enough, on the ceiling of this room was the table with the shrinking drinks, and there down beside it was the sleeping stomp, still cast in the shadows of the glowing soul.

"Wah!" Daffy yelled and latched onto Porky around the waist, who in turn grabbed onto a large pedestal in front of him, "We're on the ceiling!"

"I think this is the floor...I mean, I'm not falling or anything..." Jaden said. He wondered if this was what the cat meant when it said all the directions were mixed up. "I'm gonna climb up that pedestal and see if I can get a better view." Daffy and Porky nodded from their place, gripped upon said pedestal.

When Jaden reached the top, he found a small lantern placed there, and across from it; another pedestal and another lantern.

"Hah!" Jaden laughed in victory, These must be the lights the cat talked about. He brought the Keyblade up and lit the closest lantern with a yell of "Fire!"

"It's too dim. Make it brighter." The Cat's voice spoke from all around. Jaden nodded and lit the other lantern, "All the lights are on. You'll see the shadows soon. They'll arise in this room, but somewhere else." the cat cackled, "The shadows might go after that stomp, too." Then the room fell into silence. Jaden noted that, upon lighting the second light, the fire in the fireplace above had gone out.

"Oh my, maybe we should head back to the first room? Right way up, huh?" Porky offered.

Jaden nodded and they all took off at a run to get back to the Hooded Wizard's Dungeon and the hole in the bushes they had entered from.

Upon pouring out of the small hole in the wall and into the original room, Jaden noticed the Snagglepuss reclining on top of the table.

"You'll have a better view from higher up." It said down to them.

Jaden nodded and the three climbed up to the table to take a look around.

"The shadows should be here soon...Are you prepared for the worst? If not, too bad!" The cat pointed to the ceiling and disappeared with a chuckle.

Jaden looked up and saw a huge black and red Soulless jump down from the ceiling. It landed on the ground, on it's arms, and sprang to its feet. It stood on thin legs, three or four times as tall as Jaden. It had several heads, all black and red, stacked atop each other. It's arms were thin black ribbons, each holding a little fire stick that resembled matches.

The towering Soulless flicked the two fire sticks against it's body, immediately lighting them. It then proceeded to swipe them at Jaden, Daffy and Porky. The trio jumped from the table and landed on the floor while the monster attempted to strike them with a few shots of fire magic.

Jaden ran for safety inside the bottom of the chimney. He hid against the far wall, out of sight from the outside, trying to think of a plan. Or something. A plan wasn't really necessary. He probably could just hit it till it died.

Unfortunately for him, the Soulless saw where he had gone and shot another sphere of fire at him, this one hitting right where one would normally start a fire in the soul for heat. Sure enough, the chimney caught and flames began to quickly grow. Jaden was now scrunched up against the back wall of the chimney, a roaring fire rippling in front of him. He could feel the heat searing the edges of his clothes and hair, and sweat began to pour down his face. That was when he remembered the chills that the Snagglepuss had given him. Blizzard.

Jaden began to think about frost, about ice, about cold. Things that were rare, nigh nonexistent, on Duel Academy. But the situation called for the need of some imagination. Of course, without any experience in knowing bitter cold, Jaden's mind raced to the extreme that he had only read about. He called upon the chilling cold he had felt earlier, aided by his imagination on snow and ice. He took influence over the wintry feelings inside him and directed them outward from the tip of the Keyblade, which had begun to burn his hand.

Instead of a clean ball of ice, like Fire had done, an explosion of arctic ice detonated from the Keyblade, most likely due to the extremes Jaden's imagination went, and completely obliterated the fire. The blast even shot out of the chimney's opening, crashing into the Soulless, wounding it and putting it's flames out.

Daffy looked at Jaden, slightly impressed, before turning back to the monster and yelling out a blizzard attack of his own.

Jaden stumbled out from the chimney, slightly dizzy from the mental exertion needed to call forth the Blizzard attack he just had.. The tall Soulless faltered around a bit before crashing into the table in the midst of the room. The table split in half and collapsed atop the Soulless. Jaden staggered over next to Daffy and Porky, ready to take on the Soulless should it rise from the debris. Not surprisingly, the Soulless stood up on wobbly, spindly legs and took one long step toward Jaden, Daffy and Porky.

But it wasn't to last.

The beast's legs trembled and caved in from beneath it, collapsing it into a heap on the floor.

Jaden allowed his legs to give way beneath him, sitting himself on the ground. The body of the monster began to glow and dissipate. A small glowing soul floated to the air and disappeared.

Jaden fell backwards onto his back, hands behind his head. He stared at the ceiling they had been standing on not to long ago.

They had done it.

A yawn was heard from the stomp just beyond his head.

"How's a stomp to get any sleep?" It wondered and gave another large yawn. In the midst of this yawn, a glowing light came from within it's keyhole. The Keyblade, lying beside Jaden, disappeared, only to reappear in the boy's hand. The blade glowed and rolled its owner's over so that Jaden was lying on his stomach, the Keyblade pointing towards the Stomp. A young beam of light shot from the tip of the Keyblade and made connection with the glowing light of the keyhole. A small "click" was audible.

Daffy jumped, "What was that?" he demanded.

Jaden blinked and sat up, "You hear that? It sounded like something closed!"

"Splendid! You're quite the hero!" the cat's voice sounded, "If you're looking for Penelope, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness! Hello, goodbye!" the voice chuckled and was gone for the final time.

Jaden groaned and rolled over onto his back again.

Penelope was gone, kidnapped, lost to the darkness.

Just like Alexis.

"Let's go back to the Dodger Ship." Daffy stated pointedly and finally, "We might find her in another world."

Jaden nodded, but continued to recline on the floor, his eyes looking fixedly up at towering ceiling.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

This chapter took me awhile. I was thinking what type of army is out to get Penelope. So instead, I just used the card soldiers.

Next up: Laff-A-Lympics!


	7. Chapter VI: Laff A Lympics

**Chapter VI: Laff-A-Lympics**

"... Don't lose sight of it."

"Welcome to the Laff-A-Lympics!" Daffy declared with a sweep of his stubby arm.

Jaden heard the two large oaken doors close behind them as he looked out over the field he was standing before. Two huge, golden statues of gladiators, swords crossed, stood by a small door on the other side of the expanse. Small pedestals, apparently firepits, dotted the landscape. Mammoth walls boxed in the entry field on all sides.

"It's huge!" Jaden gasped at the sheer grandeur of the Coliseum.

"Most folks on this world go to watch the games here," Daffy walked past, flaunting his knowledge. "Here heroes fight monsters, and sometimes even other heroes!"

Jaden wondered if he might be able to take part in these games. He really could use the practice with the Keyblade if he was to use it well.

"Oh my, Daffy, you did heaps of reading last night, didn'tcha?" Porky grinned.

Daffy snorted. "I'm just naturally smart, Pork."

"But I coulda sworn I saw ya-"

"Let's keep moving, Jaden!" Daffy interrupted.

After entering the doors on the opposite side of the field, the three travelers found themselves in a elaborate stone atrium. The walls were cut smoothly from some tan brick, and trophies of all sorts sat in cases embedded in the walls. A huge stone block sat against one wall. Beside a wooden door across from them, a small, grey half-pickle/half-man caveman stood atop a pedestal, back turned to them. It was writing on a small board entitled, "Rules".

"Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya?" The half-pickle man asked without turning, pointing to the stone block, "Move that rock over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games."

"Uhmm..." Jaden began uncertainly, but shrugged and walked over to the stone block. He pushed and strained and exhorted all his effort, but the stone block didn't move. Didn't even budge. Who did the goat man expect to move this?

"It's way too heavy!" he gasped as he slid to the ground.

"What? Too heavy?" The caveman laughed and turned around "Since when have you been such a little-"

As he caught sight of the trio, his eyes widened and he nodded his head knowingly. "Oh. Wrong guy. What're you doing here?" the caveman jumped down from the pedestal and began to stamp toward Jaden, Daffy and Porky, "This here's the world-famous Coliseum—Heroes only! And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run-along, pip-squeaks." Jaden took offense to being called a 'pip-squeak', while the goat continued to talk. "Look, it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over," The goat waved his arms about to emphasize his point, "to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Coliseum."

Daffy crossed his arms, "You got heroes standing right in front you, buster." he declared angrily.

Porky placed his hands on Jaden's back good-naturedly, "Yuppiepieipeiup. He's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!"

"And we're heroes, too." Daffy shoehorned in, pointing at himself proudly.

"Hero?" the caveman's eyebrows rose and he chuckled, "That runt?"

"What's so funny?" Jaden asked angrily, "I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

"Hey, if you can't even move this..." the caveman turned and pushed against the large stone block, "You can't call yourself..." he strained, "a hero! Arrgghhh!" he slid to the ground, "Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, let's see what you can do." he smiled a somewhat unnerving smile.

Jaden panted up to the caveman man, now known as Captian Caveman,(or CC for short) and leaned on his knees. Broken barrels lay strewn all about, evidence of Jaden's past trials at the hands of CC.

"You know, you ain't half-bad, kid." CC complemented with a nod of his head, scanning the Coliseum floor.

"Heh..." Jaden panted and wiped some sweat from his forehead, "Looks like I'm headed for the games."

"Afraid not!" CC stated simply.

Jaden's head snapped up, "Why not?"

CC held up two fingers, "Two Words: You guys ain't heroes."

"Uhhh..." Porky held up four fingers, "I think that's-"

"Wanna become a real hero?" Porky interrupted. "Start by mastering this spell. It's called Thunder!"

Daffy perked up, having been sitting alone after being brushed off by Captian Caveman one too many times."Thunder! Watch this!" and with a cry of "Thunder!" from the duck, a bolt of energy shot to the ground with a crack. CC nodded.

"Uhh...isn't that lighting, CC?" Jaden asked.

"That's beside the point!" CC gruffly stated, "Learn that spell. But don't even think about practicing here in the arena, get outta here. Now!"

Jaden nodded quickly and ran through the doors, Daffy and Porky following behind.

"That kid...a hero! Hah! Suuuure..." CC chuckled to himself. "A shame he can't be in the games, though..."

As Jaden sped from the Atrium and out through the door to the entrance field, he ran into something that stopped him in his tracks.

"Rather a stubborn old pickle, wouldn't you say?" came a slick-sounding voice from above.

Jaden stepped back and craned his head to see that he had just ran into a small of a man. Well, almost like a man. This new person was red-skinned with a very thin, devil like pointed face. A large red buttocks sticking out with a devil tail He waved up at Jaden with thin, bony fingers.

"Who are you?" Daffy questioned, coming through the door after Jaden.

"Whoa, hold on the there, fuzz boy." the being chuckled abit, "Wait, let me guess. You want to enter the games, right?" he placed a large hand on Jaden's shoulder, "Well, then, get a load of this." the red-skinned being snapped his fingers and-in a puff of smoke- a small Games Pass appeared in his hand.

Jaden gasped, "A pass?"

"It's all yours." the man turned and walked away. "Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little shorty."

"Hah! Yes!" Jaden fist-pumped and ran back into the Coliseum Atrium, forgetting all about practicing his new spell.

He didn't, nor did Daffy or Porky, notice the stranger's smirk and his disappearance in a puff of smoke.

"Oh yeah!" Jaden exclaimed, "Already, I'm only four matches from the finals! Yes!"

"Oh my, you did great Jaden!" Porky gave him a slap on the back. Daffy just stood by on the sidelines, having already gave his daily grumble about searching for the King.

"Well, you ain't gonna be doing anymore brawling today, kid." Captian Caveman stated matter-of-factly, "the final battles of the tournament don't happen until tomorrow."

"Awww..." Jaden mumbled, "And I was just getting into it..."

CC smirked slightly, "Kid, did I say the day was over? Hah! Fat chance. We've got training to do!"

Jaden's face paled, "Uhhh...CC, I think I've, uh, had enough-"

"Nuh-uh, the last thing you need is to be knocked off your game. So we're gonna keep ya going! Get out there and give me fifty push-ups! Now!"

Jaden nodded quickly and ran out to the darkened arena to begin his repetitions. All the spectators had long ago left the stadium, just Team Jaden and CC were,

"So where'd you guys find this kid?" CC spoke quietly to Daffy and Porky, jerking his thumb to Jaden.

"Well, we found him in Tr-"

Daffy kicked Porky in the knee with his webbed foot and called upon his knowledge of other worlds, "Thessaloniki, we found him in Thessaloniki."

CC nodded knowingly, "Yeah, that little city up north. Central Macedonia, amiright?"

Daffy, thanking the stars for the King's library and the books he had brought with him, nodded vehemently.

"Yeah, I guessed you guys were from up north. Definitely not from around here."

At the sound of a thud, the three creatures turned their heads to Jaden, Daffy nursing his hurt knee, to see the poor boy laying flat on the dusty ground, breathing heavily.

"Watcha at kid?" CC yelled.

"Tweny-fie" Jaden mumbled into the dirt.

CC stomped his foot, "That's nothing you wimp! Get back up and finish! Sheesh..." Jaden pushed himself back up and continued onward toward his goal.

"So what're you guys doing all the way down here in Lympics?" CC questioned.

"The games of course!" Daffy answered gruffly.

"You came without passes? What a bunch of boneheads..." CC chuckled.

Beat-red heat began to travel from Daffy's feet to his zippered blue hat. He was about to charge CC when Porky hobbled in front of him, successfully blocking Daffy's attack.

"Hahahaa...well, at least the kid got a pass, right?" CC laughed again, "Hey...looks like he's done..." he walked over to to where Jaden was again lying in the dirt. "Now give me 10 laps!"

Several hours and a multitude of pain later, evening had fallen upon the Lympics. All was silent except for the clacking of Jaden's overly large shoes against the sandstone grandstands as he ran up and down, up and down, up and down. He desperately wanted to stop. He'd give anything to be able to stop this training. In all the silence he had a lot of time to think, and he found that thinking kept the pain at bay. Mostly. He initially had wondered what he was doing here. Why was he competing in these games? What had come over him to stop his search for Zane and Alexis to just be in a couple stupid tournaments? He had just about given up there when he remembered something his father had told him when he was little. Something about 'pain is weakness leaving the body'. He remembered most moments with father, as little of them that there were. A scattered playtime here, a old saying there. His father had been a great dad, for the few years he had known him. He had been the one to originally teach him how to swordfight, in fact. But one day there had been that accident out on the fishing trawler...

When he had reached that memory, Jaden's mind went back to the pain in his legs. And his chest. And his feet. And his arms. And, well, pretty much everywhere.

But still, 'pain is weakness leaving the body'.

Jaden gritted his teeth and kept running. He was gonna need all the weakness out of his body that he could get out. That's the mission he would accomplish in Llympics.

"Hey kid!"

Jaden stopped his running and caught sight of CC standing down on the ground. "I think it's about time to call it a night."

"Here, have a drink of this..." CCl said as he threw a wineskin filled with water to Jaden.

Daffy, Porky, CC and Jaden laid spread out on the surface of the arena floor, looking up at the bright constellations that couldn't be seen from Duel Academy or Looney Castle.

"So, kid," When CC spoke, Jaden looked up from fumbling about with the wineskin, wondering how one drinks from a bag."Your friends tell me you came from Thessaloniki," at this, Jaden quirked an eyebrow at Daffy, who replied with a shrug, "So you got any other reason than the games? You didn't seem ready for 'em, that's for sure."

Jaden sighed, "Kinda...I'm looking for some really good friends of mine, Zane and Alexis...I—I-I lost them, and I don't know what happened to them, or if they are even okay" he turned to look back at the stars.

"Hey, sorry about that, kid. Can't say that I've met anyone going by those names though."

Silence ensued for a few moments as the four of them stared at the intricate patterns in the sky.

"Hey CC, is there anything you're here for? Something you really want?" Jaden suddenly questioned.

CC sighed, "Yeah, I've always wanted to raise a hero. Someone that people will look at and say 'That's CC's boy.'" he smiled sadly, "I've gone through so many duds...wannabe after wannabe who never had what it took." he shook his head and turned to Jaden. "You know, the gods draw the figure of a hero in the stars." CC pointed upwards, "See? That's Odysseus, right over there to your right. They say he sailed to the end of the world and beyond. That's the hero I want to train." CC sighed wistfully.

"Oh my, you ever think you'll find him?" Porky asked.

"I don't know anymore," CC sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I don't even know why I'm telling you guys any of this. Must be tired." he shrugged and put his arms behind his head. "But, then again, Popeye...he's always stood a chance at being that one. A Hero if there ever was."

"Popeye? Who's he?" Jaden asked.

CC looked startled, "You must have lived under a rock to not know about the Pop!"

"Well, we've been traveling for awhile..." Daffy rescued the situation.

"Okay, fine, but Pop is the biggest hero this side of Mount Lympics! He's the one you'll be fighting if you reach the finals." CC chuckled,"Too bad he ain't here right now, though, visiting his father, y'know?"

"Well, not really. I never knew my father that well." Jaden stated matter-of-factly, with a hint of sadness evident in his tone. Daffy and Porky looked at him sympathetically, having learned something about their companion that they had not known before.

"Ah...well, kid, you ain't alone." CC offered as they went back to looking at the stars

"And you ain't half-bad, either. Hell, you may be able to beat Kaiba." CC declared after a minute of silence.

"Kaiba?" Daffy quacked.

"Yeah, he's the only one fighting through the tournament faster and better than you. If you keep up your pace, kid, he'll be your opponent in the semi-finals."

Jaden nodded in anticipation without taking his eyes off the sky. Suddenly, one of the stars he had been watching winked out. Just gone, like that. A world eaten by the Soulless.

The solemnity of the state of the galaxy crept it's way back into Jaden's soul and took up residence. If only he knew what he could do to stop the worlds from being taken by the darkness.

With that, Jaden allowed the numerous stars to lull him to sleep, thoughts on whether Alexis and Zane were looking at the same stars swirling about in his mind.

The next day, The Red Guy, god of the Hell, turned from looking down at the little squirt.

The particular little squirt who had just won his final match before the semi-finals.

The red god stood within the shadows of a mountain crag, overlooking the Lympics. The Little Keyblade tyke...who would've thought he could come this far? Maybe Yubel was right. This kid could mean trouble. He turned back to his guest.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out." Red Guy smashed his hands together and looked for his guest's reaction.

His guest had bowl cut brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a one-sleeved black jacket with a white dragon shoulder plate over his left shoulder. Black pants fell to black boots and a black waist-cloakcovered his left leg. A huge sword was holstered at his back.

This was Seto Kaiba. Mercenary extraordinaire

"The great god of the Underworld is afraid of a kid?" Kaiba's narrowed his eyes, "Spare me, but my contract says-"

Red Guy' firey 'hair' flared up, "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract!" he shoved his bony finger in Kaiba's face, but the other man remained calm. "I know it says you're only required to kill Popeye in this tournament." He pointed his red finger toward Jaden now, "But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him." Red Guys' features softened into something not unlike a slick car salesman. "Look, Kaiba baby" he rested a red arms across Kaiba's shoulders. The Mercenary twitched, but Red Guy wasn't sure whether it was because the nickname struck or chord, or the cold chill that must have snaked down the man's back. "I went through a lot of trouble to get this kid a pass and into the games. Don't blow it for me, eh?"

Kaiba remained steadfast.

"Hey, it's like that old pickle says, Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it!" Red Guy smirked, "I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Kaiba glared once at Red Guy and shook himself loose from the dark red's arm. Without looking back, he began to slowly make his way to the arena.

"Geez...Stiffer than the stiffs back home." Red Guy stroked his pointed chin, "Still...suckers like him are hard to come by..."

He looked into the cavernous opening behind him and smiled a hideous, pointed tooth smile when he heard that wonderful sound of vicious, gnashing teeth.

The crowds inhabiting the Coliseum seats roared in approval as Jaden and his final opponent entered the arena.

Jaden marveled at the sword that Kaiba held on his back. It was nearly three or four times the size of the Keyblade and looked as deadly.

"May the best man win!" Jaden yelled across the field as he brought the Keyblade into existence, bringing about gasps of surprise in those audience members who had not yet seen his previous matches.

Kaiba said nothing. A slight scowl crossed his face as he reached over his shoulder and pulled his massive sword from it's leather sheaths. Jaden's eyes widened as Kaiba took multiple dragon razor-sharp sword pieces from their places and secured them together into one massive sword.

Kaiba smirked just slightly as Jaden's surprise and charged like the speed of light. Jaden saw it coming just in time and rolled out of the way. Or, better said, it would have been out of the way, had Kaiba not vaulted up a Lympics wall and brought his sword straight, pointed end down, at Jaden.

Jaden's eyes widened again as he saw the attack coming, but he could only step back a foot or so before Kaiba's sword made contact with the ground and the rippling floor propelled Jaden into the opposite wall of the Lympics. He landed with a hard crack and slid to the ground heavily. On the edge of his mind he thought he heard the crowd's collected gasps and a cry of "C'mon kid!" from CC on the sidelines.

Jaden shook his head and stood shakily to his feet, just in time to fall to the ground again as Kaiba stabbed his sword right into the wall above him, right where Jaden's chest had been. As Kaiba pulled his sword from the sandstone, Jaden slashed the Keyblade horizontally on it's flattened side, sending Kaiba and his monstrous sword tumbling in reverse. Kaiba rolled backwards and slid on his feet to near the middle of the arena, catching his sword on his shoulder. He cocked his head.

"That the best you can do?"

Jaden's eyes narrowed and he stumbled forward drunkenly toward Kaiba, Keyblade raised high for a downward strike. Kaiba simply ducked his head and brought his sword forward to catch the strike. Reaching a clash, Jaden pushed downward while Kaiba held his ground against the Keyblade. The crowds cheered in the background for their favorite with calls of "Let's go, Jaden!" or "Squash 'im, Kaiba!"

Kaiba, seemingly bored at the pointless strength match, stepped back. While Jaden lost his balance on account of being deprived of his enemy, Kaiba ran toward the wall behind them. Upon reaching it, he continued in his momentum and leapt at it. Then, propelling himself off it with his feet, flew back at Jaden, sword cocked back behind him.

"Farewell." was his solitary word as Jaden looked up, only to be pummeled backwards by multiple blows.

The Keyblade Master felt his feet leave the ground and his body be mercilessly pounded upon by Kaiba's massive sword. When Kaiba finally finished with his beating, Jaden's body continued on it's path toward one of the stone bleachers. People screamed and ran from the area the younger fighter was flying towards at high speeds.

Jaden felt his body collide with the stone benches. Small pieces of rock flew off, pricking him in the back. His head spun with dizziness, his breath came labored by bruises and cracked ribs and his hands twitched about, as if electrocuted.

Kaiba laughed and walked over to Jaden, pointing his sword's tip down at the boy's neck.

CC had watched the whole match, but the moment he saw Kaiba hurtle off the back wall, he knew it was over.

And now, seeing Kaiba ready to impale Jaden to the ground, CC turned his head to hide any tears that might come. Rarely did the games have to end in death, but Kaiba seemed to have some motive to kill. The mercenary hadn't killed any of his previous opponents, so what was special about the kid?

CC supposed it was a good thing he hadn't become too attached. Too attached. Yeah. Hmph.

Who was he kidding?

"There goes another one."

Kaiba looked down at the boy who seemed to be lapsing in and out of consciousness.

The Red Idiot wanted him dead?

How stupid. This kid wasn't a threat. He was just a that, a kid. No more than fourteen. Only, what, a few years older than Mokuba?

Mokuba...

Kaiba blinked the thought away. No, not now. He had to focus on finding him. He couldn't let thoughts of Mokuba or any of the others distract him.

Just a kid...Hmph. Kaiba scoffed and returned his sword to his back.

Screw Red Freak.

Speaking of the god of the Underworld, Red Guy himself had been eagerly watching this match between the little squirt the mercenary stiff, but when Kaiba lowered his sword from the boys' neck, Red Guy dropped his popcorn and leapt to his feet.

"How dare he?" he flared up, "Moron! He—He-" Red Guy breathed slowly in and out, calming himself. Wouldn't do to have an eruption just yet.

He looked back into the darkness of the hole behind him.

"Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen." he smirked and snapped his fingers, grinning satisfied at the deep roar that came from the cave.

When the better part of Jaden's mind decided to stay in the land of the living he noticed first that there was absolutely no sound from the crowds. He then noticed Kaiba pulling his sword away from Jaden's neck, holstering it against his back.

Jaden smiled weakly. Even though he lost the match, he was happy to be alive. Even with the mind-numbing pain he felt in his-

That was when Kaiba disappeared.

Well, he didn't so much disappear as he was knocked completely from view. The man crashed into another bleacher, kicking up clouds of dust upon landing.

Jaden's eyes followed the giant black paw with red-tipped nails that had swatted Kaiba away like a fly. He followed them up the towering and muscled, black-furred leg. Up to the enormous torso of a huge, black dog. A huge, black Three-Headed dog. Huge drops of saliva fell from titanic yellowed fangs . Three pairs of glowing, red eyes surveyed about in bloodlust. The three heads jerked around viciously, as if angry at having to share a body. Three huge pink tongues slid from three cavernous mouths and licked three black lips. The dog roared.

"It's Cerberus, Guardian of the Underworld!" A random spectator screamed. The crowds followed the example and screamed their way out of the Lympics. People ran this way and that, most likely trampling one here and there. Cerberus roared again and reared its head back, preparing to grab a mouthful of Jaden, but something stopped the beast from coming down.

"Pop!" Jaden faintly heard CC yell over the crowd's screams.

"CC, get them out of here!" a young man's voice called back. Jaden looked down to Cerberus' torso and saw a man there holding the beast back. This new man had a bald head, a white navy suit. A pipe in his mouth with large muscles bulged from his arms. Could this be the Popeye that CC had talked about before?

Jaden weakly tried to move, only to send jolts of pain through his body. From a ways away he heard Daffy call "Cure". The dizziness suddenly left him and he didn't twitch anymore. He felt a few bones snap back together in his chest, creating a few short bursts of pain. Though he still felt the bruises on his chest, he made a mental note to have Daffy teach him that spell sometime.

Jaden pulled himself to his feet and ran over to where Daffy and Porky were standing beside CC, who was failing in his attempt to direct people safely from the stadium.

"CC! We've gotta help Popeye!" Jaden exclaimed worriedly, looking back to see that Pop had grabbed Kaiba's unconscious body and slung it over his shoulder.

"Kid, it's good to see you alive, but I think Popeye can handle it!" CC yelled over the din, a look of uncertainty passing over his face. That was all Jaden needed."But then again..."

Jaden nodded, "C'mon Daffy! Porky! We gotta help Popeye!" Porky nodded immediately, but Daffy looked unsure, glancing back to the relative safety outside the stadium.

Jaden knew they didn't have time for this. "Look, Daffy, I know you just want to find your King, but we gotta help these people!" Jaden pointed around, "Don't you see? When you see someone who needs help and don't help them, it's just as bad as if you were the one causing pain!"

Daffy thought about that for a moment, and finally called his staff into appearance.

Jaden smiled faintly, "Thanks, Mom..." he mumbled to himself.

"Let's get dangerous!" Daffy quacked angrily and charged toward Cerberus, Porky and Jaden following behind.

As the trio got closer, Cerberus sensed their approach and turned it's attention from Popeye to the three newcomers.

"Popeye! Jaden yelled, "Get Kaiba out of here and help the others! We got this!" Popeye looked confusedly at Jaden and his two companions before nodding and carrying Kaiba out of the stadium.

Jaden heard CC yell over the cacophony of noise, "Kid, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!"

The Keyblade Master nodded and looked upon the massive dog in full The beast stood before him, a proudly showing a long gash across it's chest, leaking purple blood. Jaden guessed that Popeye had caused that. Giving no time for strategy, Cerberus reared back and all three heads belched forth an oozing dark substance that burned away at the stone of the bleachers and sand of the floor. Daffy shot off a blast of blizzard at one of the heads before backing cautiously up from the pools of darkness. Cerberus then leaned back on it's hind legs and leapt over the darkness it had spewed, directly towards the three travelers.

Quickly, they scattered; all in different directions. Jaden found himself behind Ceberus and, while Daffy and Porky were dealing with the heads, Jaden found himself having to dodge the rapidly flicking tail. Up, down, left, right. Sometimes trying to block it with the Keyblade, only to be knocked back. One particular blow caught him in the torso and lifted him off the ground, but instead of being thrown off, Jaden dissipated the Keyblade and held on tightly. Cerberus, obviously feeling something hanging onto it's tail, started to whip it around even more than before. Jaden briefly remembered watching rodeo cowboys back home do something similar to this. He had always wondered what it was like. Before he knew it, the bucking had overcome him and he was thrown high up in the air, landing hard on Cerberus' back.

Coming to his senses, and realizing the good position he was in, Jaden called the Keyblade to his hands and gave a few slashes at the dog's back while Daffy and Porky continued to attack from the front.

Cerberus roared and started to run about wildly, crashing into walls and destroying bleachers. Jaden was only able to hold on at all due to the tight grip he had on the fur around the dog's middle neck. From this point, Jaden suddenly noticed a young man who hadn't yet left the stadium. In fact, he seemed to be huddled, scared to death in the corner of the arena. Jaden also noticed that Cerberus was heading right for the man.

Not knowing what else to do, Jaden took the Keyblade and reached it across the dog's neck, it's tip just reaching the other side, just enough that he could grab it with his left hand.

They were getting closer now, and Cerberus was still seizing around as madly as ever.

After getting a good grip, Jaden braced himself with his legs and pulled back as hard as he could against the neck. He heard the roar of middle head catch and it began to choke, rearing back. Jaden continued to pull back with all his strength, but he knew he wouldn't be able to keep the pressure up for long. The middle head, seeming to be the dominant one, pulled back from the strain and rumbled off in a different direction, this time toward Daffy and Porky. Jaden lost sight of the man, but at least he was safe for now.

With Cerberus lumbering toward Daffy and Porky, Jaden felt an idea come upon him. He continued to pull back with the Keyblade, even beginning to heat it up a bit with some small amounts of fire magic. He attempted to focus all the heat near the middle of the Keyblade, the part pressing against Cerberus' throat. The two other heads of Cerberus roared, obviously feeling the burning pain of the middle one, and the whole body reared back, leaving the chest wound out in the open, right in front of Daffy and Porky.

Jaden only hoped Daffy took the initiative.

When Jaden heard the cry of "Thunder!" from the duck, he knew he had.

Ceberus screamed a high pitched whine and, losing balance, tumbled over backwards. Jaden barely had time to release his grip and jump from the falling body before being crushed. Luckily, he made it, landing heavily on his left side.

Ceberus pulled itself to it's feet, still whining, and stumbled toward the north Lympics wall, attempting to make a leap over. It successfully made it over, but pulled a few layers of the stone wall down with it as it passed.

Jaden wiped a sandy arm across his forehead and rubbed his bruised chest tenderly.

Well, that had been fun. He couldn't wait to tell everyone he had been in a giant's rodeo.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky all stood before CC and Popeye, the latter with arms crossed, head nodding with approval to everything CC was saying.

"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes," CC read from a sheet of paper in his hands, "And confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Furthermo-"

Daffy jumped and spitting angrily, "Hey punk! What do you mean, 'junior heroes'?"

CC waved the duck off, "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero."

"So, uh-eh-eh-uh, what does it take?" Porky wondered aloud.

Popeye smiled warmly, "Well, that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did."

Jaden nodded, "Well, CC, we'll just start by moving that pedestal."

CC laughed, "Hah! Kid, no matter how many times you luck into beating Cerberus, you still won't be—" CC's jaw dropped as he watched not just Jaden, but Daffy and Porky too, push against the large stone block. A wide smile crossed Popeye' face as they did, indeed, move it to the corner of the room.

Jaden turned back to CC and Popeye, "How's that?" he smiled triumphantly, "Teamwo-" he trailed off as he saw CC and Popeye looking past him. "What? What is it?" he asked.

CC pointed, "What's that?"

Jaden turned and saw a small keyhole glowing on the floor beneath where the stone block used to be. The Keyblade abruptly appeared in his hand and pulled his arm forward. Then, just as in the Smurf's world, a small beam of light protruded from the tip of the blade and made contact with the keyhole. And again, another small "click" was heard.

"What WAS that?" Popeye questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"We still don't know..." Jaden shook his head in confusion.

"Hmmmm...come to think of it, that pedestal has always been there for as long as I can remember..." CC spoke thoughtfully, "But that doesn't matter. Kid, if you think being a hero is moving some rocks around, you're still a long ways off."

Jaden nodded again, "Okay...we'll be back though, one day, and maybe we'll be heroes by then."

With that, Jaden and friends waved goodbye and left the Atrium of the Lympics.

"I still can't believe that squirt actually beat Cerberus..." CC shook his head after Jaden had left.

CC smiled and and the two of them ambled toward the Arena to begin cleaning up.

"Just between us," he said, "I'd already worn Cerberus down by the time the little guy jumped in."

"My lips are sealed." CC chuckled, "But still...I think there may be something to that kid..."

Jaden was busy chatting amiably with Daffy and Porky when Daffy pointed out that someone was sitting on the steps leading out of the Lympics. Someone they knew.

Kaiba.

"Hey...you alright?" Jaden asked unsuredly. The man had his head down, staring intently at the ground. Kaiba certainly didn't seem the type to appreciate someone asking about his feelings, and Jaden wondered if he had made a wrong move.

"Yeah." Kaiba replied simply.

"So why did you go along with Red Guy, anyway?" Jaden questioned, gaining a small bit of bravery. He, Popeye and CC had been told about Red Guy' plan by Kaiba. Popeye had filled them in on who Red Guy was: The Devil Tricker of the Underworld, and antithesis to Popeye father, Corn.

Kaiba rested his chin on a fist, "I'm looking for someone. Red Guy promised to help." he said as he stood to his feet.

Jaden waited for the black-outfitted man to continue.

"I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." Kaiba looked up at the clear, blue sky. "I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."

Jaden smiled, "You'll find it," he said confidently, "I'm searching too."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, "For your light?"

Jaden thought about this for a minute. His light? Was he looking for his light? What he was looking for Zane and—Alexis.

Alexis.

Alexis was his light.

Jaden didn't know for sure how or why he knew this, or why his face felt warm at the thought, but Alexis was his light.

He was searching for his light. Just like Kaiba. Just like everyone. Everyone was searching for their, or maybe it was the?, light.

He nodded.

Kaiba slightly inclined his head in something that a very positive person might loosely interpret as a nod of acknowledgment.

"Don't lose sight of it." he warned and pushed past Jaden, Daffy and Porky.

"Hey! How about rematch sometime? No dark powers involved!" Jaden offered excitedly.

Kaiba stopped and pushed some of his brown hair from his face.

"Don't waste my time." he said, then disappeared through a door to the left of the atrium.

Jaden turned back to the exit, and back to searching for his light.

"He's strong, he's kind. He's always there for you. And he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect. Perfectly Infuriating!" Red Guy crushed the small statuette of Popeye in between his hands. "He make me crazy!"

The Devil God exploded into a pillar of fire as he screamed. After the heat cooled down, he leaned back in his Underworld throne and looked around at the dark and blank atmosphere. He inhaled the smell of rotting flesh and continued talking to himself. "Wait, wait, What're you worried about? All the pieces are in place. Relax...Here's what you do. Let Popeye train the kid!" his voice took on an excited tone, "In the next games, you'll take care of them both!" he smirked, but sensed another presence in his throneroom. He looked over into the shadows to his right."Who invited you to the party?"

In the shadows, a glowing green tipped staff illuminated green and red eyes surrounded by a black, pink face.

It was her.

"Stay out of this. This is my show." Red Guy stated firmly.

The woman in the shadows was silent for a moment.

"As you wish." she spoke calmly, "Fight to your heart's content."

Red Guy nodded agreeably as the woman in black disappeared into the darkness.

==================================================================================Well, that's it. Let me know what you wanna expect next.


	8. Chapter VII: Deep Jungle, Part 1

**-Chapter VII: Rumble in the Jungle**

_~Two are better than one...if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls~_

Jaden turned over in bed, rubbing his tired eyes. He had been woken at, he checked the clock, six in the morning by an extremely powerful and potent enemy. It floated above him in temptation, demanding Jaden leave the warm comfort of his bed and purge the monster within.

The monster? Hunger.

The floating enemy? The ever-so-delicious scent of cooked bacon.

Jaden smiled gleefully and stumbled from his room. There was a monster that needed slaying. As he walked he pulled on his red shoes to protect from the cold metal floor of the Dodger Ship. In the part of his mind not taken up by thought of crunchy bacon, Jaden wondered, like he did nearly every morning, why he kept those shoes. Nobody liked them. His friends didn't like them, Zane and Alexis didn't like, he didn't even like them. But, just as every morning before as well, Jaden was far to occupied with food to remember anything about his shoe qualms.

When he reached the kitchen-from whence the smell had originated—Jaden caught sight of the short form of Daffy overlooking the sizzling bacon on the stove. The duck was talking to himself.

"No! I'm sure this is how you cook bacon, bub!" he stated angrily and glared at his zippered mage hat, which was sitting on the counter beside him. After a moment, he amended the insult. "Little punk!" he angrily turned back to the frying pan.

"Uhm...Daffy?" Jaden stood awkwardly at the entryway, watching Daffy carefully.

"Jaden! Tell Sniffles this is how you cook bacon! Tell him!" Daffy quacked.

"Sniffles? Who's Sniffles?"

Daffy stopped his angry quacking, "We never introduced you to Sniffles? How did Porky forget?"

"You forgot too, Daffy." came a small, calm voice from Daffy's hat.

Jaden stepped closer and noticed that there was a small ant standing atop Daffy's hat, and a rather smartly-dressed mouse at that.

"Sniffles' the name!" the mouse introduced happily, "A pleasure to meet you, Jaden!"

Jaden reached out his hand in a friendly manner, but returned it after realizing Sniffles couldn't shake it. "I'm Jaden."

"I know." Sniffles said with a wink.

Daffy pointed a spatula at Sniffles accusingly, "This stupid mouse is telling me that I'm cooking bacon wrong!"

Jaden peeked over Daffy's shoulder,"No, wait, I think Sniffles's right. You don't want to have the temperature that high or else-" Jaden was interrupted by a raindrop of bacon grease that flew from the overheated pan and hit Daffy square in the eye.

"Waah!" Daffy screamed as he crashed backwards off the stool, narrowly missing Jaden.

"See? I told you it was a bad idea." Sniffles scolded from his place on Daffy's hat.

Daffy scowled and rubbed his eye, "Bah, what does a mouse know..."

"I'd say quite a lot apparen-" Sniffles began.

"Daffy? Could you teach me how to do that 'cure' spell now?" Jaden interrupted, knowing that the previous conversation had been headed to disaster long before he had entered the kitchen.

Plus, he really wanted to know that spell.

Daffy perked up, bacon-y problems completely forgotten. "Cure? You want to learn cure?" he scoffed and dusted his jacket."Hah! You do know that Cure is one of the most difficult spells to handle?"

"I can handle it." Jaden affirmed.

Daffy smirked haughtily, "Alright then, let me show you." Daffy sat back down on his stool, "Cure takes a lot more energy out of you than any other spell, especially if you are using it on yourself." he spoke proudly, as if teaching a class of the ignorant. "So only use it when you absolutely positively need to." Jaden nodded, and Daffy continued. "To use it, you simply think of wonderful thoughts that make you feel better and send it to your weapon."

"I think I get it.."

Daffy smirked, "Well, I think we should make sure."

"What'd you mean-" In one swift motion Daffy jumped from the stool and smacked Jaden in his head with his wand. Jaden dropped to the ground.

"Daffy!" Sniffles exclaimed. "You just..."

"I did."

"But...but why?"

"An object lesson, Sniffles."

"But..." Sniffles shook his head unconvinced.

"Oh, grow up. He'll be fine."

Jaden rubbed his head and pushed himself to a sitting position. "What the heck, Daffy!" Jaden looked at his fingers, revealing blood. "You cut me!"

Daffy sighed. "Object lesson. Cure!"

Jaden felt a slight pinch and, when he reached up to touch the small wound, he felt no blood.

"So what makes it so difficult?" Jaden asked, rubbing the place where the wound used to be.

"Because it's tough for some people to concentrate when hurt." Daffy spoke as if it was a silly notion to be distracted when wounded. "And to heal someone, it takes a lot of energy. But for a mage like me-" Daffy didn't get to finish, because more bacon grease shot from the pan and splashed on the back of his feathered head.

"WAAAH!" Daffy yelled again, furiously rubbing his head in pain.

"Oh my, you fellas are really loud!" Porky yawned as he entered the kitchen from the hallway, "G'mornin' Daffy, whatcha dododooin' on the floor?"

Daffy grumbled unintelligibly.

"'Morning Porky." Jaden greeted.

"G'mornin' Jaden!" Porky returned, "Hey Daffy? I think saw another world a'comin up outside—-"

Daffy jumped to his feet and ran down the hall, pushing Porky out of the way. Jaden grabbed a piece of bacon and ran after the duck.

"G'mornin' Sniffles!" Porky smiled at the mouse. "Ooh, look! Bacon!"

"Looks like a massive rain forest..." Jaden assessed, wiping his greasy hands on his pant leg. The world they looked upon as definitely covered in green.

"Hey Daffy, maybe King Bugs' down there!" Porky optimistically suggested as he entered with a piece of bacon in one hand and Sniffles in the other, placing the latter down on the dashboard.

"In a backwater place like that? No way!" Daffy shrugged the world off, "Let's move on."

"Hold on!" Jaden broke in, "Maybe Zane and Alexis are down there! Let's just check it out."

Daffy balked, "Forget it! We're on an important mission!"

"And I'm trying to find my friends! Just land!" Jaden said.

"NO!" Daffy angrily held fast. Jaden ignored him and reached for the the imprecise teleporter latched next to the wheel. Daffy realized what Jaden was doing just a few seconds late and, before he could react, Jaden had his finger poised over the red "Activate" button.

"Jaden, I wouldn'-" Porky raised his hand in warning.

Jaden paid Porky no heed and pressed the button anyway.

"Mommy!" Daffy's eye's widened before all three disappeared.

"Oww...my head..." Jaden groaned as he looked far above him, past crisscrossed wooden support beams, to the hole he had made on his downward descent. The teleporter, without proper tweaking, had apparently dropped him a few feet above the old building he was in. Rotten wood must've broken his fall.

He had landed in a large, single room. Green vines and moss encroached upon old, rotting wood. Barrels and crates filled with untouched who-knows-what were scattered around in the rather spacious room. Sunlight came scattered in through dusty, cobwebbed windows.

"Daffy? Porky?" Jaden rubbed his aching head as he looked around. Had the two of them fallen with him? Or was he now alone? The thought frightened him slightly, but maybe it was for the better if Daffy and Porky didn't want to help him find his friends in return for...whatever they wanted him to do. Beyond helping them find their King, he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to be doing. Jaden's thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a creaking behind him. He turned just in time for a huge, white paw to swat him into one of the decrepit walls. He felt the wall give way upon impact, and he tumbled backward over a ledge. Apparently he had crash landed into a large tree house, a tree house that sat perched in between two mammoth branches of a gigantic tree, dizzyingly high above the ground. As he started to fall, Jaden grabbed the ledge with one gloved hand, stopping himself from falling to his death far below.

Jaden grabbed with his other hand and began to hoist himself high enough that he was able to rest on his elbows, ignoring the pounding in his head from both the original fall and his impending doom.

Having pulled himself high enough to get a good view, Jaden realized that he had some problems. Right in front of him, looking him straight in the eye, was a large leopard, tongue flicking between it's sharp, jagged teeth. A long tail flicked wildly behind it and it's eyes glowed in a red bloodlust. Jaden's vision strained and blurred. The leopard growled softly.

Jaden squinted through his pounding headache, feet still dangling over the edge. Was it raising it's paw?

Abruptly, the yellows and blacks of the Leopard were replaced by dark tans and browns. Jaden then simply saw the Treehouse ahead of him, shifting in and out of focus. He heard a short whine, and then the sound of scurrying paws.

A few uneven thuds of walking later, swift, strong arms reached around him and pulled him up from his precarious perch, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. From his place on the floorboards at the edge of the treehouse, Jaden wondered if now might be a good time to use Cure. He quickly decided against it though, not wanting to waste his already spinning mind.

A rough, broken voice stuttered, "Sabor. Danger."

Jaden squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them in an attempt to clear them. Had that leopard been named Sabor?

"Umm...thank you?" Jaden blinked away more dizziness as he looked up to see who had scared the Leopard, or Sabor apparently, away.

A very tanned and muscled man stood hunched over Jaden, black eyes studying him closely. The man wore nothing but a brown loincloth, and long dark brown dreadlocks fell about his face.

"Thank...you..." the man copied Jaden, albeit in a broken way.

"Huh? Uh.." Jaden gestured around him to get his point across. "What is this place?"

The man walked right up into Jaden's face and tilted his head. His breath smelled of bananas. "This place. This place." he repeated.

"Okay..." Jaden began to wonder what was wrong with this guy, "Where did the others go?" he tried asking about Dafft and Porky.

The man stared at him blankly.

Jaden sighed, "Look, I got separated from my friends. Have you seen them?"

The man just continued to stare.

"Fri-end-s" Jaden spelled out, placing his hand over his heart, "My fri-end-s"

The odd man placed a hand against his heavily muscled chest, "Fri-end-s" he repeated.

Jaden nodded emphatically, "Right! My friends! There's two of them," he held up two fingers, just to be sure the man got the message, "The loud one is Daf-"

Wait.

Why was he looking for Daffy and Porky? Zane and Alexis were his friends! Daffy and Porky didn't even really want to look for the two of them. Daffy and Porky could look for their King forever, Jaden still just wanted to find Alexis and Zane. His real friends.

The man cocked his head at Jaden's abrupt stop.

"You know what? Nevermind." Jaden sighed, "I'm looking for my friends, Zane and Alexis." Jaden spoke each word carefully, hoping to get the message to this apparently speech-challenged man.

The man grunted, "Look for Zane, friends? Alexis, friends?"

"Right-" Jaden again stopped short when he briefly noticed a flash of red hair over the man's shoulder. He pushed past the man and ran inside the house. He looked around wildly for the person who had the red hair. It couldn't be her. Was it really that easy? Jaden stopped short when he caught sight of her standing nonchalantly beside a pile of boxes, hands intertwined cutely behind her back. Jaden's heart skipped a beat. It was Alexis. He stood still for a moment, drinking in the sight, eyes wide. She was here. She was alive. She didn't even look injured! Time slowed, and Jaden took a cautious step forward, even though his heart was screaming for him to run to her and grab her in a hug, no matter how weird that may've been back on the Islands.

Jaden closed his eye and swallowed. He opened them, almost prepared for her to be gone, but there she stood. Still fine. Still okay. Still there with him so he wasn't alone anymore. The only odd thing was that she seemed to have a slight glow silhouetting her frame. It wasn't much different than normal, though, Jaden decided. She had always seemed to glow to him, especially in recent months.

Not that he lov—liked her or anything, that's just the way it always was.

As he stood gawking, Alexis smiled kindly at him, turned and walked behind the boxes.

"Jaden, you're so weird." she said, speaking as if the Islands hadn't been destroyed and she and Zane hadn't disappeared. Speaking as if nothing had changed.

"Jaden...don't ever change"

Snapping out of his trance, Jaden ran to where she had been standing. Desperate to get another glimpse of her. Desperate to know that she hadn't left. He slid to a stop and looked behind the boxes. Nothing. Nothing but a dead end wall.

Jaden jerked his head back and forth, looking desperately at all points of the room. No. Not again. No. Alexis was not gone again. She couldn't be. No way. She...she couldn't be...

Jaden sighed heavily. He just wanted Alexis back. He wanted Zane back. He hated this. Why was Alexis gone? Again. He put his palms to his forehead and pushed hard to ward off the headache that had returned, momentarily staved off by Alexis' appearance.

He also pushed back any tears that might arise and attempt to escape his eyes.

He sighed again. At least he knew she was okay. She was there, alive and well. She must've been teleported or something.

Unless, of course, he had been seeing things. He had hit his head pretty hard.

Jaden promised Alexis then and there that he would find her and everything would be okay again.

"Friends here." the forgotten man suddenly spoke up from behind.

Jaden whipped around, "Really!"

Maybe they were here! He had just seen Alexis, maybe Zane was here! Just maybe Alexis was here!

The man made a few guttural noises that sounded quite close to an ape, "Friends here." he then repeated the deep-throat noises.

"Errrr...not sure I understand, but take me to my friends! Take me to Zane and Alexis!" Jaden smiled, headache now gone for good.

The man put both his hands to his chest, pointing to himself, "Tor." he declared, "Tor go."

Jaden pointed to himself in turn, "And I'm Jaden. Let's go to Alexis and Zane!"

Tor nodded and gestured for Jaden to follow him out the door of the treehouse. There, the young Keyblade Master got his first real glimpse of this world.

Huge green trees stood tall and proud beneath a glorious bright sun, warming this world to a temperature even hotter and more humid than the Islands. A wispy mist slightly obscured the view from the treehouse, but Jaden could just catch a glimpse of an ocean stirring gently a few miles away, stretching out to meet the cloudless blue sky above. The treehouse, the likes of which he and his friends had never built on the Islands,(But the type he and Zane had secretly always dreamed about) was indeed built into a mammoth tree, even larger than Jaden had previously thought. The tree stood high above the jungle canopy, allowing for far, unhindered sight for many a mile. In the distance below, Jaden heard a few birds and animals call.

"Deep Jungle." Tor grunted as he moved onto a downward path built into the tree's branches and trunk, gesturing for Jaden to follow.

Porky looked worriedly at the bamboo thickets that grew large and imposing around the clearing that he and Daffy had landed in. His large eyes fell to the small, red piece of Gummi Block in his hand. Daffy had guessed it must have been from the King's ship, but oddly still refused to admit that Jaden had been right to check out every world they came to. They had found the small thing simply lying on the ground, as if left behind. Perhaps on purpose?

"Oh my, where are we?" Porky wondered as Daffy relaxed lazily beside him. "I sure hope Jaden's okay..."

Daffy grunted and sat up, "Aw, who needs him? We can find the King without him." he declared, scowling with arms crossed.

Suddenly, there was a severe rustling of the bamboo underbrush. The grove in front of Porky parted and out stepped a tall, well muscled man with an angular face. A long mustache sat above a frowning mouth and a blue-red hat over his head. He looked like a hunter, with tan hunting coat and safari gear hanging from his belt. And, most importantly, the man held a double-barreled shotgun in his hands compainion with a dog.

The man raised his eyebrows and blinked at the two creatures in front of him.

Daffy and Porky gulped.

The tent Tor led Jaden to was placed in a small clearing, surrounded by crates and tables and all manner of traveling equipment.

Inside the tent, a large map covered most of one of the walls, a few cushioned chairs sat to one side with two small tables beside them. Two lanterns lit the inside of the tent. A young woman with short red hair who wore glasses, wearing an orange sweather with a red skirt stood leaning over a projector. She appeared to be tinkering with it.

"Velma." Tor said simply.

"Oh, Tor!" the woman smiled as she turned around and caught sight of Jaden, "And who's this?"

"Uh, I'm Jaden-" the Keybearer began to introduce himself.

"Oh! You speak English!" The woman, who's name was apparently Velma, interrupted curiously, "So, then, obviously, you're not related to Tor..."

Jaden looked down at Tor, sitting hunched over on the ground. He just stared back.

"So are you here to study the Gorillas?" Velma cocked her head.

"Highly doubtful." a new, deep and congested sounding voice came from the tent's entrance. Velma's black eyes twitched just slightly at the sound of the voice.

Jaden turned to see a man with an angular face enter, trailed by Daffy and Porky.

"Daffy! Porky!" Jaden smiled wide.

"Jaden!" Porky happily greeted. Daffy grunted in acknowledgment.

Jaden crossed his arms and grunted back, reminded of their earlier argument. He wondered if Daffy was ready to leave already.

The man shrugged and turned to walk out of the tent, "I found these strange creatures out in the Jungle. I was close to shooting them until the shorter one talked. Almost shot then too." he cleared his throat. "Apparently just a circus of clowns. Not much use for hunting gorillas."

Everyone turned to find Velma studying Porky closely with a magnifying glass. She spoke quietly, distracted by these two new creatures. "We're studying them, not hunting them, Mr. Dastardly. This is research." By this time, the hunter, Dastardly, had long left, not that Velma had noticed. She moved her studies over to Daffy, who quickly stepped away. "This is fascinating...I cannot wait to tell the gang about this...perhaps I'll publish an article"

"Stop poking me, sister!" Daffy angrily pushed Velma away.

She smiled, unfazed. "So, do you have a name?"

Daffy didn't reply, so Porky spoke up. "I'm Porky, ma'am, and this here is Daffy." he chuckled. "He's kinda grumpy."

"Well," Velma curtsied formally, "I'm Velma. I'm pleased to meet such creatures as yourselves. Please, if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask." she smiled once again and retreated to the table. Grabbing a piece of paper, she started to jot things down, looking up every now and then to refresh herself with Daffy and Porky's appearance.

"Well anyway..." Jaden began

"I'm staying!" he and Daffy said at the same time.

Jaden started and looked down at Daffy, "Huh?" He wondered why Daffy was staying when he was so insistent before that they pass this world by.

Porky reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, red block, "Jaden, look what we found. Look at this."

"What's that?" Jaden asked, looking at the small object in Porky's cupped hands.

"A Gummi Block!" Porky declared, "It's the same stuff used to build our ship."

"So that means..." Jaden trailed off.

"The King could be here." Daffy finished impatiently, "So, we've gotta work together to look for him," he spoke as if in pain. "For now."

Jaden frowned, "Fine. I'll let you tag along. For now."

Porky sighed and tucked the Gummi Block back into his shirt pocket.

Jaden turned, "Velma? I'm looking for two friends of mine. Tor said that he knew where they were. Do you have any ideas how we can find out?"

Velma looked up hurriedly from her paper, "Well, I suppose we could show Tor some slides and see if they show a place that Tor recognizes as having to do with your friends...You see, Tor was raised in the jungle with the Gorillas, so he knows much more about this jungle then we ever could."

Jaden was willing to try anything, "Yes, please, let's try that!"

Velma nodded and pulled some slides off a small table and turned the lanterns off. She carefully asked Tor if he would tell them if he recognized any of the things in the slides as having to do with Jaden's friends.

As Jaden watched in anticipation, he felt a shiver go up his spine at the sight of one of the slides. It was a picture of a monstrous and imposing castle, towering high into the sky. It was like no castle Jaden had ever seen. It was tall, but looked off-balance. . Gravity seemed to be defied by the ramparts and towers and a a small lift system seemed to snake around the outside walls.

But why was this familiar? Why did his chest warm, but spine shiver, at the sight? He had never been off his Islands, so how did he recognize this off-kilter castle?

Velma showed Tor quite a few more slides, but if you were to ask Jaden what they had been pictures of, he could not have told you. All he could think about was that one slide of the Castle.

Presently, Jaden realized that Velma had turned off the projector and looked to Tor who shook his head.

Jaden sighed. Tor hadn't recognized any of those places. He was back at having no idea on how to find Zane and Alexis.

"Well, that only leaves one place, right Mudley?" Dastardly said, having silently entered at some point during the slideshow then turned to his dog.

"Yeah yeah yeah!" His dog replied with sinister smirk.

Jaden raised his head and looked hopefully at the man who seemed to be the brawn of this Jungle expedition.

"Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours." Dastardly turned and pointed to Tor, "If they are indeed here, I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tor refuses to take us to them."

"Really, Mr. Dastardly. Tor wouldn't hide-"

Dastardly walked over, past Velma, and stood above Tor's crouched form.

"Then take us there! Take us to the Gorillas! Go-ril-las." he pronounced, rolling his r's.

Tor swiveled his head to Jaden and stared at him, as if trying to read the boy's honesty.

Jaden begged him with his eyes to take them to the Gorillas. To take him to Zane and Alexis, if they were indeed here.

Tor stared back for a moment or two, then nodded.

"Tor go see Grape Ape." he spoke in broken English.

"Tor are you sure? Who is Grape Ape?" Velma questioned worriedly.

Dastardly nodded, "He must be the leader. Perfect. I'll go along as an escort." the hunter smiled, "After all...the Jungle is a dangerous place..."

Jaden grunted as he landed on the opposite side of a rushing river, having just swung across the waters on a thin vine rope. Tall tropical trees grew sturdy and large all around him, each draping their own sets of vine, like masses of spider-webbing. Extensive areas of clumped, thick grass stood firm ahead of the small group.

Dastardly, who was leading the way, was cutting down the grass viciously. Jaden supposed the man was on a high. Sabor had attacked the group briefly, but had been scared off by Dastardly. Jaden was unsure whether the shots had killed the creature or not, but Dastardly had seemed excited just to be shooting at something.

The group came to a sudden halt when Tor held up his hand in a gesture that clearly meant for everyone to stop moving.

Dastardly's eyes seemed to brighten, "What is it?"

Tor didn't answer and moved forward, sniffing the air. Jaden strained to hear anything different than the typical jungle noises they had heard for the last two hours: birds, bugs, animals. The occasional grumble from Daffy.

Tor gestured them forward slowly, "Here. Wait." he grunted as he disappeared beyond a large bush. Jaden, Daffy and Porky got as close as they could, hoping to see what would happen. Dastardly scowled at Tor's disappearance, but joined them nonetheless.

Beyond the bush, Jaden saw a huge area of trees, each with small pads of leaves spread out over the branches. A great many gorillas sat in the tree on the nests of leaves. Others milled about on the ground. Jaden heard Dastardly's breath quicken beside him.

As soon as a single gorilla caught sight of Tor, the entire group scattered to the trees. All except one huge, purple, muscular one. Jaden supposed that was Grape Ape.

Tor began grunting toward Grape Ape in what Jaden could only assume was gorilla-speak. He wondered what Tor was saying as he gestured toward those standing behind the bush. Jaden thought Tor sounded almost desperate.

Grape Ape looked on in impassivity until Tor was finished, then he picked himself up, gave Tor and the bush a disdainful look, and disappeared into the jungle. The rest of the gorillas disappeared from the trees and followed him into the foliage as well.

Tor crumpled to the ground in defeat. Grape Ape had apparently refused.

Jaden looked sadly to the ground and sighed. Another dead end. No Zane, no Alexis. Again. Why? Why couldn't he have a break? Why couldn't he just find them? Alexis was here! He had seen her earlier, hadn't he?

Jaden soon found himself looking at Tor's bare feet, standing in front of him. He pulled his eyes up to Tor's apologizing eyes.

"Well, that was quite the waste of time..." Dastardly mumbled to himself and ran his hands up and down his shotgun impatiently.

"Is...is there anywhere else Grape Ape could be going?" Jaden asked with one last thread of hope.

Tor sighed, "Dastardly go house in tree." Dastardly stopped his movement.

Jaden looked up. The treehouse. That was where he had seen Alexis!

"Tor, please! Can you take us to the treehouse? Just this once, just once more! I need to be sure!"

Daffy began to say something, but Tor held up his hand and nodded to Jaden.

"Thank you." Jaden sighed.

"Hey, fellas...where's Mr. Dastardly?" Porky looked around curiously.

Jaden scanned the area. Porky was right.

Dastardly was gone.

"Dastardly go." Tor growled and ran off into the forest, the trio following him close behind.

Dastardly looked down the length of his double-barreled shotgun. His only partner in his quest. Over the years the shotgun had become an extension of himself. He could probably fire it in his sleep and hit whatever he wished.

And, at this moment, it was a young gorilla in his sites.

A devilish little thing to be sure, strange pointed hair, odd coloring, playing about with a globe...

Not as exciting as shooting a adult, but this would do for now. Maybe that leopard would come back sometime. He knew that would be a good hunt.

Dastardly smiled and trained the shotgun directly on the poor piece of meat's head.

For the hunt, he toasted.

He smiled and pushed gently on the trigger.

But then something exploded to his left and the hunter was thrown back against the railing, his shot going wide.

What the devil was this?

"Hey bub?" Daffy yelled at the now-surprised hunter, sprawled against the treehouse railing. A destroyed and smoking box to the left showed signs of being struck by a Thunder attack.

The small little gorilla, quite scared, had scurried behind the muscled leg of the newly arrived Grape Ape.

"Grape Ape!" Tor yelled again, and hurriedly ran toward the balcony of the treehouse where the gorilla king stood.

Jaden looked angrily at Dastardly, along with Daffy and Porky. If the hunter had ruined any possible chance to find Zane or Alexis on account of having to kill a gorilla, so help him...

Suddenly, Tor's grunted gorilla-speak halted and he returned to the outer-porch of the treehouse. He grabbed Dastardly around the throat and pushed him forcefully against the railing.

"What you do!" he bit out brokenly.

Jaden started forward. He couldn't let Tor just kill the man. "Uhh...Tor..." Tor silenced him with the palm of his hand.

Dastardly's eyes flitted nervously, "You don't understand! I was only trying to..." the man choked a little, "Ah, a—a snake slithered b-by, you see. I-I-I saved that p-poor gorilla's life!"

Tor looked darkly at him, and pushed a little harder, upper lip quivering. Dastardly eyes widened and he began to claw at Tor's muscled arm.

Finally, the ape man relaxed and threw Dastardly across the porch and into a pile of crates inside the treehouse. Jaden sighed. As much as Dastardly may have just ruined his chances of finding Zane and Alexis, he was relieved that Tor hadn't murdered him.

Not a moment later, Tor was tackled to the ground by the spotted form of Sabor the leopard. A strangled gasp broke from Tor as he held the beast's head back with his bare hands, whilst his throat was crushed by Sabor's paw. A paw, heavily dyed dark red, with a small scabbed-over hole just visible among the maroon fur.

Jaden called the Keyblade to his hands, but Porky was quicker and had already thrown his shield toward the leopard. It made contact with a hard 'thunk' and Sabor was tossed back heavily against the railing. Daffy next called down a thunder attack, but Sabor was too quick and moved out of the way, jumping toward Jaden. Jaden slashed quickly, hitting his mark against the resilient beast, knocking it into the treehouse with a crash. Inside the treehouse, the large, discharging crack of Dastardly's shotgun was heard and the sound of breaking glass followed.

Slowly, Dastardly walked slowly out of the treehouse and cracked his neck.

"That God-forsaken leopard just won't die." he stated simply. "It escaped after I shot it. Again."

Tor pushed himself to his feet, gasping heavily and massaging his neck.

"You okay?" Jaden asked concerned. Tor nodded and glared at Dastardly, still angry.

Dastardly just smiled and pointed out that it was getting late and they should head back to the Campsite.

"Mr. Dastardly! How could you have done such a thing!" Velma yelled at the hunter in anger upon hearing of the events that had transpired over the afternoon.

"Now, Miss Dinkley, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla-" Dastardly began, holding up his hands in defense.

Velma interrupted and shook a finger in his face, "You are not to go near the gorillas again!"

"All because of one mishap? Come now..." Dastardly chuckled. He then caught sight of Tor, on Velma's left, glowering darkly at him from underneath brown dreadlocks, and Jaden, on Velma's right, glaring, with arms crossed, at the Hunter as well.

Dastardly chuckled again, this time uneasily, and held up his hands in surrender. He then turned and stalked out of the tent.

Velma sighed and turned to Tor and her three guests.

"Well...There's some sleeping room back here..." she announced as she led the way through a flap on the far side of the tent.

Dastardly puffed heavily on his long pipe as he walked through the Bamboo Forest, a ways away from the Camp. The moon's rays cast shadows everywhere, enough to make the most seasoned adventurer wary.

"What am I doing with these imbeciles?" Dastardly on mumbled to himself. The hunt was so much more enjoyable on one's own, so why was he here?

The hunt...just you, your prey, and the jungle. The thrill, the sheer fear coming from your prey...the kill...

Everything. It was all so glorious. Such a rush of pure, unadulterated adventure. Man at his finest. Man doing what man was meant to be doing.

And those gorillas, the mighty beasts of the jungle, they were just the thing for the hunt. The monster gorilla, Grape Ape, would be the most satisfying of them all. That would be enjoyable, most enjoyable indeed. And that leopard, that bloody leopard that just wouldn't die. It too. He would hunt the Leopard and the gorillas down too. Then maybe that duck and that pig.

No. Wait. No, that was going a bit far.

Ah, but did it really matter? They were animals just the same. He would go after them too.

But not yet...no, first came the gorillas. Then the leopard.

Dastardly took another puff of dark smoke.

"Blasted gorillas! I'll hunt down every last one of you!" he yelled to the jungle, "I'll track you down. Somehow."

Yes, yes, that's what he would do.

He needed to find those gorillas.

He needed to hunt those gorillas.

He needed to shoot each one of them, and then take their pelts back to his city. And the leopard too. They'd all go for quite high prices there.

Dastardly took another puff and smirked softly, "I'll stake my life on it."

No sooner had he said those words, than a shadow began to take form ahead of him. In one fluid motion, he brought his shotgun up and shot the rapidly forming shadow, dissipating it into a puff of smoke. But another shadow appeared, this one taking the shape of a bluish monkey with a shadowy face and arms. He shot it too. He began to feel the thrill come again, not as much as if he had been truly hunting, but enough to make him smile.

Then a large shadow fell on his back and eclipsed all his surroundings.

He turned and looked upon a monstrous beast, surrounded by more and more of the small monkey shadows.

Dastardly was about to shoot them too, when the monstrous one growled softly.

His arm, bringing his shotgun up to position, halted and he quirked an eyebrow. The monsters weren't attacking. Not proper hunting etiquette at all. Hm.

He smiled.

"Well, hello there..." he took another puff and leaned back, gun across his shoulders. "Perhaps you can assist me in the hunt."

Of course, he'd kill these things later, too.

Of course.

End of Chapter VII

* * *

><p>NOTE:<p>

-Velma Dinkley is a fictional character from Scooby-Doo.

-Tor is a fictional character from the Might Mightor.

-Dick Dastardly is a fictional character from Wacky Races.

-Sabor was the only character to stay the same.


	9. Chapter VIII: Deep Jungle, Part 2

**Chapter VIII: Deep Jungle Part 2  
><strong>

_Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art...it has no survival value, rather, it is one of those things that add value to survival_

_~C.S. Lewis_

Jaden slowly blinked open his eyes and peered about in the early morning dark. What had awoken him? As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he saw Daffy and Porky snoring peacefully beside him, whilst Tor was sleeping peacefully on the ground at the foot of the only bed, the one in which Velma was sleeping. Jaden listened intently to the jungle around him and heard nothing out of the ordinary.

Small birds called out in the deep parts of the jungle while spring peepers chirruped away in their choruses, accompanied by crickets. So, again, what had woken him?

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the air that sent shivers up Jaden's spine. All the inhabitants of the tent immediately shot up in fright, except for Tor. The ape-man slowly lifted himself from the ground, body heavy. The pained look on his face said it all. Velma quickly lit a match and caught it on a lantern.

The scream was cut short by the sound of a gunshot, a sound that echoed itself across the Jungle endlessly.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky's eyes widened. Velma paled. Tor's pained face narrowed and he quivered in rage.

"Dastardly." he bit out, spoken like a curse.

"Would Mr. Dastardly really do such a thing?" Velma wondered anxiously,

"He did try to shoot a gorilla yesterday..." Daffy pointed out.

Another shot sounded and Tor bolted out of the back of the tent. Velma hurriedly threw off the covers of her bed and followed. Jaden shot another worried look at Daffy and Porky and ran after them.

Upon pushing aside the draping cloth door, the first thing Jaden noticed when was that it was early morning, the first oranges of the sun just peaking up over the top of the trees. The second thing he noticed was Tor laying on the ground a few yards off, Jaden was kneeling beside him with a hand on his shoulder. Something red and black lay obscured just beyond the two.

What had happened?

As he moved closer it hit him like a punch in the gut.

Tor lay, face in the dirt, shuddering with what Jaden guessed to be silent sobs. Velma was slowly rubbing the ape-man's shoulder, tears trickling down her face and falling over quivering lips. And beyond them, a black body of a gorilla lay on its back. It's face was still etched in horror: eyes wide and mouth agape in a silenced scream. The black fur was mixed red with blood; small rivers of the substance running from underneath the body, coloring the green underbrush crimson. What didn't recolor the brush, the ground sucked up greedily.

What had Dastardly done! He had actually killed a gorilla! Velma mentioned during the night that the gorillas were an endangered species in the Jungle and that was why she was only here to study them. But now, Dastardly had killed one. Not just killed one, but left the body, meaning he wasn't even using it for pelts or meat. He had just wanted to kill it.

Jaden heard Daffy and Porky run up behind, while Tor beat the ground with his fist like he expected it to return the blood it had absorbed, and with it, the gorilla's lifeforce.

Jaden shut his eyes so he would no longer have to watch, turning to face Daffy. "Can you use Cure? Maybe if we do it toge-" Daffy sighed and Jaden opened his eyes again.

The duck slowly waddled over to stand beside Jaden, careful to keep his distance from the mourning. "Sorry, Jaden, but Cure doesn't work when something is—is-is dead..." Jaden clenched his eyes shut again and heard Porky sniffle behind him.

Velma murmured quietly, "It's my fault...I shouldn't have just sent Dastardly back to his homeland...I should've done more...maybe this wouldn't have happened..."

Tor slowly stood to his feet and looked Velma in the eyes. He placed a hand on her shoulder and wiped at the tears on her face awkwardly. "No." he simply stated. This caused her to cry only more, for Tor had understood all she had said and had thought enough of her to reply in the midst of his mourning.

"Tor's right, y'know." Porky began, "It's neanoteot-not your fault what Dastardly did."

Velma nodded slightly, still looking unconvinced.

Porky helped her stand to her feet, Velma murmured her thanks as he helped her back to the tent.

Tor sighed and looked back at the body.

"Bury." he said, his ire rising. "Then find Dastardly."

The sound of rumbling thunder echoed in the distance.

Jaden stood beside the small mound of earth that they had piled above the shallow grave in a clearing. A light rain had started, which had gradually became a heavier and heavier downpour as they had dug, turning the grave and the ground around it slick with mud. The mound itself had small rivers of water trickling down it's sides. The four of them, Daffy, Porky, Tor and Jaden, all stood in silence. The Jungle also seemed to have quieted, the only sounds being the pounding of pouring rain and the occasional crash of thunder.

"I think we better get back to the tent.." Porky recommended. No one replied, no one moved. Jaden hadn't even heard him.

He could only imagine how Tor felt. He probably knew that gorilla very well, grown up with him, played with him. Odd to think of gorillas that way. Jaden wiped the rain from his eyes and pulled the hood of his jacket lower over his face. What if it had been Zane? Or...or Alexis? Oh god. He couldn't bear to think those thoughts anymore. He felt sick and barely held back the tumultuous dances of his stomach. He was going to stick with Tor. He knew he would want to find Dastardly if he had just killed Zane or...Alexis.

He felt sick again.

But, thinking of Zane and Alexis in this instance made him wonder. Were they okay? Was Alexis safe and sound? He prayed to all high-heaven that she was, and that Zane was okay. That the darkness hadn't eaten him.

Porky spoke up again, "Maybe we-"

"Find Dastardly." Tor spoke without taking his eyes from the grave mound.

Jaden nodded and looked to Daffy and Porky who both nodded as well.

The three of them jumped when the thunder clapped again, much closer now.

All of a sudden, a black hole materialized above the grave and out of it popped a small being, resembling a monkey, with two yellow eyes staring hungrily out from a completely black face. Two small, but wickedly clawed, arms jerked about from a dark blue torso adorned with the symbol of a s, criss-crossed in red. Equally wickedly clawed legs stood beneath the creature and a long, blue tail twitched behind it.

"Soulless." Jaden's eyes narrowed as he summoned the Keyblade, but it was unneeded. Tor gave a great howl of anger and dove forward, ripping the Soulless apart and back into darkness. The ape-man straightened up and looked back at the trio from the other side of the grave. Jaden nodded. But Daffy quacked in alarm as more of the monkey soulless appeared, standing in a semicircle around the grave. Jaden sighed and readied himself whilst Daffy and Porky grabbed their weapons.

Tor just gave another great scream and charged toward the closest soulless.

Jaden pushed a wet spike of hair from his vision as he slashed the final soulless into oblivion. He supposed his hood must've come off in battle. The seventeen year old keybearer began to scan his fellow warriors. Tor, Daffy and Porky looked no worse for wear, aside from being covered in mud and soaked to the bone. Thunder echoed again. Jaden blew on the uncovered tips of his freezing fingers and wondered how Tor ran about in this with nothing but a loincloth on.

"So, I guess de-a-de-a-de-a- the Soulless are here too..." Porky noted with sadness.

"But why weren't they before...why now?" Daffy wondered.

Jaden began, "Well, maybe..."

"Dastardly." Tor said firmly.

No one objected.

"So where do we start looking for Dastardly?" Jaden asked, wondering if he had something to do with the Soulless suddenly appearing. Briefly, out of the corner of his eye, Jaden suddenly caught sight of a black form just beyond the treeline.

"Who-who's there?" Jaden took a step toward the shadowy form.

Lightning flashed. The figure was gone.

"Jaden? What happened?" Daffy looked inquisitive.

"I-I don't know..." Jaden continued walking to where the figure had been. "I think I saw someone standing over there..."

"Gawrsh, I didn't see nothing." Porky rubbed his chin.

Jaden reached the edge of the clearing, a few feet in front of where the man had been standing. Nothing. No imprints, no movement, and no sign. Jaden looked up, only to catch sight of the figure again.

Lightning flashed, but this time the figure didn't disappear. The brightness afforded Jaden a slight glimpse of who it was..

The man, for it was most decidedly a man, seemed to be on the shorter side. He wore a black and hooded leather cloak that fell all the way to his black-booted ankles. The cloak was zipped shut from the neck to about knee height. Silver pullstring beads hung down his chest from either side of the hood, which completely enshrouded his face.

Lighting flashed again.

The man raised his hand, beckoning Jaden forward, before turning and walking deeper into the Jungle. Jaden moved forward again, inclined to follow the man. It wasn't like they had any better ideas on where to go. Maybe this mystery man was leading him to Dastardly.

Jaden suddenly heard his name being called by the others. He was again aware of the falling rain, not knowing when he had stopped noticing it. It had seemed like the world had gone into slow motion, all attention bent toward the man in the black coat.

The man was now gone, out of sight, and Jaden suddenly knew he had to follow him. He wiped more rain from his face and took off into the jungle after the cloaked stranger, hearing Tor, Porky and Daffy following behind.

"We cannot afford you dithering about in this Jungle forever, Keyblade Master."

Jaden continued to pull his way through the foliage, panting heavily from the exertion of running through the jungle in the pouring rain. He still heard Daffy and Porky behind him, while Tor had caught up about ten minutes before. Neither he nor Tor had spoken on why they were running or who they were chasing. Tor seemed to have an unspoken trust that Jaden had a reason for going where they were going, following this cloaked man deeper and deeper into the Jungle.

It seemed to Jaden as if the noises of the jungle had gone silent since the man had appeared, only hearing the steady thumping of the group's feet, the rustle of the greenery as they passed. No birds or bugs. No animals. And thankfully, no gunshots. Just the falling rain. As if the Jungle had gone silent in preparation for a next act.

The man appeared again, just over to the the left. Jaden adjusted likewise. He never had the cloaked man in his sights for more than a few seconds, ever only just enough time to right his course if he had veered. The thunder cracked, breaking the hushed silence among the falling rain.

Many different thoughts entered Jaden's head as he ran, thoughts such as was Alexis out in this rain too? He sure hoped not. Well, he hoped both. He wanted her here so that he could find her. He didn't want her to be out in a storm such as this. If she was, he would give anything just to find her for a moment and give her his jacket or something. Why? He had no idea why. He just knew that's what he wanted-

Jaden nearly stopped short as another thought entered his mind. 'A storm such as this.'

He hadn't seen a storm like this since he watched Duel Academy disappear.

Was that same thing happening here? Were the Soulless trying to take this world?

Distracted, Jaden found himself tumbling over a fallen log and out into another clearing.

He pushed himself to his feet, looking up to see if the man was still there. He was. Standing calmly in the middle of the clearing, seemingly unfazed by the storm, as if he didn't notice it. In the distance, just viewable above the opposite treeline, were what looked to be a group of cliffs. The sound of crashing water could be heard in that direction, louder than even the rain. The young Keyblade bearer panted as he stood completely to his feet. He heard Daffy and Porky arrive behind him, gasping heavily. The man still stood, unwinded.

"Who...Who are you?" Jaden yelled, breathless, over the storm.

The man made no move to reply, he just stared at Jaden. Or, at least Jaden guessed he was. It was hard to tell with the hood obscuring his face and eyes.

"Hey! He asked you a question!" Daffy poked an accusing finger at the man.

After a few moments of silence, the man nodded ever-so-slightly and disappeared into darkness, a darkness that came up from the ground and enveloped him entirely.

The darkness faded and left Jaden looking at the soaked form of Sabor charging from the opposite treeline. His face paled even more than it already had in the pouring rain. Sabor was closer now.

Jaden leaped out of the path of the charging beast, only just noticing that the footprints Sabor left in the mud were mixed with blood. The beast's wounds must have opened back up. To his right, Daffy summoned his wand and Porky grabbed his shield.

Jaden looked up to find Sabor charging back at him again, Daffy was shooting off blizzard and fire attacks towards it, but due to Sabor's speed, they all missed. Porky threw his shield like a boomerang after the leopard, but his shots were even less accurate than Daffy's wild magic blasts. Tor was simply running relentlessly after Sabor, dreadlocks flying back. Lightning flashed and Jaden heard a crack somewhere to his left. As he rolled once again out of the way, he glanced over quickly and saw that a tree was collapsing, most likely caused by the lighting. He waved his hands in Tor's direction.

"Look out!" he screamed through the rain. Tor looked up just in time to move out of the way of the trunk, but not fast enough to get out of the way of the branches, which buried him underneath their mass. Jaden guessed that Sabor smelled a quick kill because it stopped running for Jaden and began to run for the tree. As Jaden got an unhindered glance at it, he noticed a rather large, oozing bullet wound in the beast's side. Most likely evidence of Dastardly's previous attack at the treehouse.

"Porky!" Jaden yelled, "Try and hit Sabor with your shield! Knock him away from Tor!" Porky nodded and took careful aim. Jaden himself took off for the tree, hoping to reach it in time before Sabor ripped apart the pinned Tor.

Jaden was given the step up when Sabor's front legs were swiped out from under him by a careful throw from Porky. The leopard's body front flipped through the air and landed heavily on it's wounded side, ceasing to move. Jaden sighed and reached the tree that had fallen atop Tor. As he tried to push back the heavy and thick branches that had buried the ape-man, he heard a warning yell from Daffy.

"Jaden! Look out!"

Jaden turned to find Sabor running toward him determinedly. Would this monster never give up?

The Keyblade master turned fully around and began to summon up a fire attack. The beast would jump upon him any moment, he had to concentrate.

His mind when back to the time at the first world when he had been trapped in the burning fireplace. The heat that had licked his skin then, testing his tastiness. The heat that had seared the tips of his hair and caused the Keyblade to scorch his hand.

"Fire!" he yelled out. A ball of magic flames poured forth from the tip of the Keyblade and flew through the rain, wisps of steam forming in it's wake. Sabor dodged the incoming attack and kept his charge strong. Jaden's eyes widened. He had missed. He didn't have the mental powers to summon up another spell, either. He didn't have to worry about that for long, though, because Sabor was upon him in seconds, knocking him onto his back, prepared to take a large bite of the Keyblade Master's face. Jaden quickly brought the Keyblade forward, blocking Sabor's mouth. The leopard pushed and gnashed his teeth against the Keyblade, trying to bite through it and reach Jaden. Jaden pushed back with all his might, trying to keep Sabor's head as far away as possible, but his strength was failing. Both arms were shaking in exertion and he felt like he was about to pop a blood vessel.

Suddenly, there was a call of "Fire!" by Daffy and Sabor screamed. A howling, ear-piercing scream that sent chills down Jaden's spine. The Leopard, fur now alight, released Jaden and dashed into the jungle, still screaming. Jaden looked up and saw Daffy's form silhouetted against the rain. His wand smoked slightly from launching the attack at so close a range.

Jaden took a breath of relief. "Thanks, Daffy."

Daffy nodded. "Now let's get Tor out."

Jaden slowly pushed himself to to his feet and began to slash away at the branches. He could still hear Sabor's screams in the distance.

"Oh my, I wonder why this storm just won't let up..." Porky wondered as he assisted Jaden and Daffy with rescuing Tor. Suddenly, Sabor's screams of pain were book ended by a gunshot. Jaden flinched. Dastardly was close. Moving faster now, Jaden caught sight of Tor's brown dreadlocks in the mess of leaves and branches.

"There he is!" he pointed out excitedly, "Let's get him out!"

Together, Jaden, Daffy and Porky pulled Tor from the mess of branches. Upon his release, Tor stumbled forward toward the gunshot without a word.

"You okay?" Jaden asked, concerned.

Tor didn't reply, just continued to walk forward.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky all looked at each other sadly. Could Tor handle it if another one of his family and friends were dead?

The storm had still not ceased, in fact, if anything it had gotten worse. The ground was now nothing more than mud that served only to trap the feet of those who walked through it. The cliffs were close now, just beginning to form walls on either side of the party. Tor now led the group, heading ever steadily, not bothered by the storm, in the direction of the latest gunshot. The ape-man was as determined as Jaden had ever seen him. Lightning flashed and Tor halted his trek. Jaden wiped the rain from his face as he ran up to Tor to see why he had halted. As Jaden approached, he saw something that distantly resembled a body laying in front of Tor. His heart dropped to his stomach as he wholeheartedly hoped it wasn't another gorilla.

Tor hadn't moved toward it, or moved in any way at all. He just stood and stared at the body, expressionless. As Jaden looked closer, he found that the body somewhat resembled the remains of a leopard, although burned beyond absolute recognition. Jaden, noticing the tell-tale wounds on the side, decided for sure that this was the body of Sabor the Leopard. The fur of the monster was completely burned away, revealing brown and burnt flesh beneath. Small flicks of magical fire remained, dancing slowly over the body every now and then. The rest had been put out by the rain. Sabor's wounds on it's paw and side were burnt scars that had engraved themselves deep, the head of the leopard was mangled and broken, but it was not due to the Fire magic Daffy had unleashed upon it.

There was a single bullet hole through Sabor's . No blood, the fire and rain had taken care of that, but the beast was dead, and Dastardly had killed it. Jaden coughed. The one good thing Dastardly had done. He had finally killed that bloodthirsty animal.

The thunder roared again, causing Jaden to jump. He had almost thought it was Sabor coming back to life. He sighed and turned away from the sight. Jaden was relieved to know that he wouldn't have to face the leopard again, but he was beginning to become queasy with all the death and darkness in this world.

Tor broke from his reverie and sniffed the air.

"Dastardly close."

"Oh my, you mean he's-" Porky began with wide eyes, but Daffy silenced him with a finger.

Tor gestured forward slowly.

Jaden got close to Tor and whispered, "But what about Sabor's-"

"Leave." Tor spoke firmly.

Leave Sabor's body? But shouldn't they at least bury it? Even Sabor should have that decency.

"But-"

Tor turned and looked Jaden sharply in the eyes, "Leave." he repeated, harder this time.

Jaden sighed. Then again, they didn't really have time for that. Especially if the Soulless was starting to eat this world. Knowing that he wouldn't get anywhere with Tor, and unsure if he even should, Jaden perused the area. The cliffs were much closer now, only a few yards off on either side. They were in a canyon at the moment, small ledges and mini-cliffs were scattered up and down the walls. A waterfall still echoed at the end of the canyon.

Just beyond the treeline in which they were hidden, Jaden heard the soft "click" of Dastardly's shotgun reloading, followed by the horrified grunts of multiple gorillas.

Jaden quickly turned to Tor, "We have to do-" but Tor was already gone. Jaden looked over to Daffy and Porky, "Let's go, we gotta back up Tor!" both his companions nodded, and with that they burst onto the scene. A very, very busy scene.

Tor had Dastardly in an arm choke from behind, pulling the man up and back. Masses of black and brown gorillas were scurrying around, escaping into the treeline in all directions. Attempting to corral them were some of the monkey soulless, probably following Dastardly's direction.

Dastardly was gurgling now from Tor's hold. The hunter quickly elbowed Tor in the gut, causing the ape-man to release his grip. Dastardly turned to catch Tor in the sights of his shotgun, breathing laboriously through a bruised neck.

"Good bye, ape-man" Dastardly grunted through crushed windpipes with a smirk and pulled back on the trigger.

"No!" Jaden yelled, but Porky had already started moving. He threw his shield like a disc toward Dastardly's shotgun, hitting it's mark and forcing the shot to go wide. Dastardly grunted and chambered another round, but Tor had been given all the time he needed. The Jungle-dweller lept forward, knocking Dastardly onto his back and sending his shotgun skittering across the ground,.

Dastardly looked after his gun in shock, as if someone had just cut off his arm and he was staring at the dismembered piece disbelievingly.

The shock soon passed and Dastardly stared up at Tor, his face contorting with rage. Veins bulged from his sweaty brow and his whole face quivered. Tor's face grew determined and he moved his hands back to Dastardly's throat.

As Jaden watched, unsure of how to get involved, he saw Dastardly's massive fist swing and make hard contact on Tor's skull with almost superhuman strength. Tor flew off Dastardly, making a bone-crushing connection with the a rock not far from where Dastardly's gun had slid to a stop.

With Dastardly now free, Jaden began to move, Keyblade in hand, but was cut off by a group of the monkey Soulless. Daffy and Porky faced the same problem. Through the scratching assault, Jaden would occasionally catch a glimpse of Dastardly stumbling toward Tor. Of picking his gun up, whole body quivering. More scratches and Jaden's attention was taken again with the attacking Soulless. His next glimpse was of the hunter popping open his barrel and checking the rounds. Clicking it shut again. The rain seemed to fall much harder now, as impossible as it may've previously seemed to Jaden. Thunder crashed in it's drum-like clashes.

Jaden screamed in his mind for Tor to get up, to not lay there like a lame dog to be shot by Dick Dastardly. He furiously slashed at the Soulless, hoping against hope that they would stop so he could reach Tor before Dastardly took his shot. Was he raising his gun now? If only the Soulless weren't so ferocious...

Suddenly, it all stopped.

The Soulless ceased their assault. They stopped their scratching, their swipes and bites. They all turned, staring in dark, empty-eyed rapture at Dastardly who was just now noticing his new audience. He shrugged and turned back to Tor, who was just coming around.

That was when the Soulless made their move.

All as one, three groups of about seven or so Soulless each charged Dastardly's turned back. The man looked behind him just in time to be completely engulfed in masses of dark blue and black, a scream never even leaving his lips.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky all ran over to Tor, who was struggling to stand.

"Hey, Tor, it's okay." Jaden soothed, "Dastardly's gone. The Soulless got him."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that..." Daffy muttered, slight fear evident in his rough voice.

Jaden turned to see a flash of dark light explode from the pile of Soulless, sending the small beasts flying into the cliff wall, dissipating them into black smoke. Standing up in their place was none other than Dastardly. He smirked and checked the barrel of his gun again. If Jaden's eyes weren't mistaken, he could have sworn that the slightest purple-blue hue seemed to float off of Dastardly's body like flames. Lightning flashed, perfectly completing the image. Trees quaked as wind whipped through the canyon, blowing leaves and underbrush through the clearing and sending stray, oily hairs blowing in Dastardly's eyes, giving the man a look of one powerfully insane.

"How's he still alive?" Porky's jaw dropped.

Tor took a breath, "Not Dastardly..." he muttered some ape-speak that Jaden recognized as the guttural noises Tor had made when they first met. "Not Dastardly." He repeated. He seemed to be gaining a bit of strength.

Not Dastardly? What did that mean?

Jaden didn't have time to ponder this, because the trees behind Dick Dastardly abruptly exploded, sending dirt and leaves flying through the air. Jaden covered his face with his arms to block the debris.

When he was able to look again, he saw a mammoth creature that seemed to resemble a chameleon like the ones he and Zane used to try and catch on the Islands (much to Alexis' chagrin) standing beside Dastardly. Jaden, even in the heat of battle, smiled slightly at the memory of the Island and his friends.. He'd find them.

The monster was black in color, with large multi-faceted eyes. A large horn grew from the middle of it's hunchbacked head. It's body was lean and spiked on the back, leading down to a long, split tail jutting from behind. In the middle of its chest was the symbol of an Egyptian eye. It bellowed as Dastardly stroked it without speaking.

"Not good." Jaden paled and rolled out of the way just as Dastardly lifted his gun and fired. Jaden knew he couldn't dodge bullets, only keep moving and hope that Dastardly wouldn't be able to hit him. "Daffy! Porky! Get Tor out of here, I'll handle this until you get back!" he yelled to his companions. Porky looked ready to object, but Jaden turned and charged at the creature, aiming for it's tail. Upon seeing this, the monster moved to swing said tail at the incoming boy. Jaden subconsciously reacted by diving to the ground and sliding beneath the sweep. He felt the push of the wind as it passed overhead.

He used his non-keybladed hand to push himself to his feet and turned. The monster now had it's back to him and Dastardly was still trying wildly to keep him in his sights. Good. He was fairly confident he could at least stall the Soulless as long as Dastardly couldn't shoot him.

Jaden ran toward the beast and lept onto it's lower back. He began to clamber up to the beast's head where he started to slash at anything he could reach. He noted that Dastardly was firing at him, but the bullets seemed to be going wide or hitting the Soulless itself, due to the fact the the monster had begun to buck around as soon as Jaden had made his first slash.

In his side vision, Jaden noticed Daffy and Porky charging forward. He also saw Daffy calling forth a blast of thunder.

Thunder.

Oh.

Jaden pushed himself off the monster's back, propelling into the air just in time for the thunder attack to miss him and make contact with the beast's torso. The Soulless screeched and thrashed violently, throwing Dastardly backwards with a random hit of it's tail.

"I've got Dastardly! You guys go after the Soulless!" Jaden yelled to Daffy and Porky, who both nodded.

Jaden landed on the ground in a roll and came up right in front of Dastardly's double-barrels. The man grinned and fired. The shot missed Jaden's head as he ducked, but partially destroyed one of the bangs in his hair.

Jaden went for a low swipe at the legs with the Keyblade, but Dastardly, showing surprising agility, dodged the slash by jumping. As he came down, he brought the butt of the gun onto Jaden's head. It made contact with a resounding crack.

Meanwhile, Daffy and Porky were busy dodging the thrashing attacks of the chameleon creature.

"Uh, Daffy, y'sure that Thunder attack was the best thing? I mean, in this rain..." Porky pointed out as he blocked a swiping claw with his shield.

"Shut up, Pork, we don't have time for that!" Daffy yelled back and shot off a fire attack at one of the chameleon's eyes. It made contact and the monster screamed louder than it had before, clawing at it's eye, which smoked slightly.

Daffy turned and yelled to Porky, "The eyes! Go for the eyes, Porky!"

Porky, ears covered and eyes closed, didn't hear Daffy. The duck-mage called out a small blizzard attack on his friend.

"Oh my, Daffy, that's cold!" Porky yelled as he flinched at the attack.

"Shut up and go for the eyes!"

Porky nodded widened in understanding and he took aim. Daffy tried to shoot off another magic attack but the monstrous beast expected it now and batted it away with a large claw. With that distraction, Porky's shield flew true and cut directly into the monster's unwounded eye.

Jaden felt, rather than saw, Dastardly grab his collar and throw him hurtling toward one of the cliffs. Jaden saw, rather than felt, the cliffs charging toward him. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain. It soon came in the form of his back crashing into the jagged wall. He felt millions of small spikes jab at him. He also felt a wetness at the back of his head.

Jaden looked up, world spinning, at Dastardly. The man was checking his gun again and the results did not seem to satisfy him, perhaps he was out of bullets. Dastardly merely smiled, shrugged and advanced toward Jaden, who was too dizzy to move.

Upon reaching him, Dastardly grabbed his collar again and shoved him against the rough wall. Grabbing one end of the gun's barrel and keeping his other hand on the butt, Dastardly shoved it up against Jaden's throat. Pushing harder and harder. Squeezing Jaden's life of him.

"Tell me, young man, do I scare you?" Dastardly spoke for the first time since being attacked by the Soulless. His voice sounded nothing like it had before, though, having taken on an unearthly quality. A roaring. A gravelly, rough and deep voice. His eyes flashed wildly as he released a disturbing laugh. Lightning flashed, painting the man's face in pale blue light. He looked like a demon, Jaden tipsily noticed. A crazed demon.

Suddenly, Jaden heard a echoing yell and Dastardly released his hold, jerking his demon-head to the right. Jaden fell to the ground, coughing and rubbing his neck. He weakly turned his head in the same direction.

It was Tor, standing high up in a tree, beating his chest in an echoing yell. Dastardly had no time to make a move before Tor swung from a vine off the tree, feet first, landing a direct hit on the hunter's torso and landed nimbly on his feet beside Jaden.

Dastardly, on the other hand, was sent flying across the clearing.

A little ways away, Jaden heard another scream and noticed the monstrosity that Daffy and Porky had been fighting was stumbling around, clawing at his eyes. Jaden worriedly scanned the area for Daffy and Porky, finding them standing a few yards from the Soulless. Porky had just caught his shield like a boomerang.

Jaden looked back toward Dastardly, watching him shake his head clear and rise to his feet slowly. Daffy shot off a final Blizzard assault, freezing the falling rain into spiky projectiles as it flew. It made a direct hit on the monster's head and sent it stumbling, a building poised to collapse, directly in Dastardly's direction.

Dastardly looked up and blinked in surprise at the massive torso falling atop him, all he was able to do before the Soulless' body completely crushed the hunter. The Soulless slowly dissipated into smoke, leaving nothing beneath it. A small spiritual energy floated into the sky and disappeared into darkness.

Dastardly's gun, thrown when the beast fell, spun along the ground and came to rest at Tor's feet. Tor picked it up and broke it over a rock.

Thunder rumbled again. But this time, finally, further away.

Jaden closed his eyes and sighed, falling back against the cliff wall.

When Jaden awoke, he found himself in the same spot as when he had closed his eyes: leaning up against the craggy side of a cliff. Definitely not good for the back.

On the brighter side, he noted, the rain had crawled to a light drizzle, no longer was it the raging monster it had been throughout the day.

Jaden slowly blinked and rubbed at his eyes, looking to find his compatriots. He spotted Tor sleeping high in the branch of a tall tree. Daffy and Porky were only a few feet away, they seemed to be asleep, those were Daffy's snores. They were asleep. It had been a long, and early, day for them all. Everyone had been tired.

Jaden took a deep breath, they had stopped Dastardly. He wouldn't be hunting gorillas anymore. The Jungle was safe. All that was left was to find Zane and Alexis.

Zane and Alexis!

Jaden jumped to his feet immediately, any feeling of drowsiness completed vanished. He quickly ran over to the tree Tor was reclined in and yelled up to the ape-man.

"Tor! You said you knew where my friends were!"

Tor looked down lazily, but immediately.

"Zane and Alexis?"

Tor nodded and looked about to speak when something else caught his sight. Jaden followed his vision and saw something he had never expected. A large, purple gorilla stood at the treeline, not far from their current seating. Grape Ape was here. The monstrous gorilla nodded and turned into the jungle again. Tor, without a second thought, jumped from the tree with finesse and ran after the gorilla. Obviously this was important. Jaden was about to follow when he remembered Daffy and Porky. He made a small detour to their sleeping forms and pushed them awake, probably a little harder than was necessary.

"C'mon!" he spoke excitedly to his sleepy companions, "Grape Ape is about to do something!"

Daffy yawned. "You woke us up for this?" he grunted.

"Just be patient, Daffy." Porky smiled good-naturally. "I'm sure something important is gonna happen soon."

Indeed, they had been walking through the jungle for about half-an-hour. Again, as they had been all day, following someone. At this time, it was Grape Ape, who walked with a steady pace through the jungle. It was easy enough to keep up with him.

It was odd, Jaden thought, the Jungle-life seemed unperturbed by all the fighting with Dastardly. It had fallen to silence during the day, but now it had gone back to sounding the same as it had yesterday when they had arrived, as if nothing had happened. Strange how that works.

Soon enough, the group came to a stop beside Grape Ape, who was looking into a rock wall. Not too far away, Jaden heard the roar of a crashing waterfall. He wondered if he'd finally get to see that before leaving. The closest things they had on the Islands to waterfalls were small, only a few feet high. Ones that fell into small pools that he and his friends used to play in when they were younger.

Grape Ape moved forward to a large stone that appeared to be leaning against the rock formation and pushed against it, ever so slowly along the wall, revealing a medium-sized opening, leading into an deeper cavern.

When Grape Ape had finished moving the stone, he looked at Tor and nodded again before lumbering off into the jungle. Tor smiled slightly and gestured into the cave.

"Go, Tor get Velma" he smiled wider and disappeared into the jungle quick as a flash.

Jaden peered into the hole in the wall, it wasn't dark, light seemed to filter down from above. Most likely it was open at the top.

While he was gazing, Daffy impatiently marched past him. "Well? What are we waiting for?" he quacked as he barged past Jaden and into the cave. Jaden promptly followed and what he found made his jaw drop.

The cave was not musty or dank as was to be expected, it smelled fresh and earthy. The roof of the cave stretched far above, so high that Jaden could only see the smallest sliver of sunlight peaking through and lighting up the cave. The rock walls were covered in moss and vines, cross-crossing over stone ledges, growing across the vast emptiness above them, thus creating a vague canopy of hanging vines. The stone floor showed signs of being constantly damp and greenery grew across it in some places. The pounding of the waterfall was closer now, in fact, Jaden could've sworn that he saw the waterfall crashing down, creating a fourth wall of water on the far side of the room. He guessed that a river ran above them on either sides of the crack in the vaulted ceiling, feeding the waterfall.

Oddly, It all reminded him of Alexis. He knew that because she always visit the Abandoned Dorm back home. Sometimes she would just sit and think next to the place. Waiting for her lost brother's return. And if there was any place like this cavern, it was the Abandoned Dorm, only times a couple million. If she wasn't already here, he would bring her here someday. But that was nonsense, Alexis was here. She could've already seen this. His only regret was that he hadn't seen it with her.

"Oh!" came Velma's echoed exclamation of awe at the sight. Apparently Tor was pretty fast.

Tor himself soon appeared at Jaden's side and gestured forward to something Jaden hadn't noticed before: A small glowing point in the wall. Jaden was about to ask what it was when Tor suddenly gave his gorilla-speak grunt. The same one he had used at the Treehouse and while fighting Dastardly.

"Look Tor, you've said that three times now, and I have no clue what you're talking about!" Jaden pointed out.

Tor just repeated the sound and gestured to his chest.

"Oh! I think I know what that means!" Velma excitedly exclaimed, "See? Tor is pointing to his chest and—what were the two times he used it?"

"When he said he knew where Zane and Alexis were, my friends." Jaden said quickly

"And, eh-uh, when Dastardly was jumped on by all them soulless!" Porky finished.

"Well then, I do think I can make an educated guess as to know what it means." Velma smiled, "It means 'Soul'"

"Soul?" Jaden looked confused.

Tor nodded vehemently and tested the word for himself, "S-oul." he nodded, content on his test, and continued, "Friends, same soul. You and friends. Together." Jaden's face fell at this, did he mean that his friends were with him in his soul? Not in Deep Jungle?

"Dastardly, lose soul. No soul, no see friends. No soul, no friends." Tor finished.

"So Alexis and Zane..." Jaden started hopefully.

Tor jumped toward Jaden and poked him in his chest, right over his heart.

"Here."

"Oh..." Jaden's eye's fell to the damp stones beneath his feet. Zane and Alexis weren't really here, Tor didn't know where they were any better than he himself did. But he had seen Alexis! She was here! Wasn't she? Jaden sighed. That was one mystery that would have to remain unsolved for now.

"Friends in soul. Special. Don't lose friends, don't lose soul." Tor stepped back from Jaden.

The young Keyblade Master looked to Daffy and Porky who were still busy examining the new area. Were these his friends? They had traveled together for a little less than a week now, but had been through a lot more than any normal week. They were most definitely his companions, but were they his friends? And if they were, had he treated them as such? Jaden thought about. Yes, and no. Respectively, he decided. Daffy and Porky were his friends, certainly no replacements for Zane and Alexis, but they were still his friends. And he hadn't treated them as he should've.

"Daffy? Porky?" Jaden called, "Guys, I gotta apologize for being a jerk earlier. I'm sorry." he bit his lip.

Porky just smiled, "That's just fine, Jaden! We're all friends!"

Daffy looked taken aback. He was silent for a moment before opening his mouth and speaking thoughtfully, "And I'm sorry too, Jaden..." He looked as if he was going to say something else, but quickly stopped talking. Jaden grinned. Daffy wasn't used to apologizing.

Porky laughed aloud, echoing the odd sound of his chuckle around the cavern, "All for one, huh?"

Jaden and Daffy looked at each other and nodded. Velma smiled and Tor tapped on Jaden's shoulder.

"Keyhole." he said, pointing to the peculiar glowing point on the wall.

Jaden eyebrow's quirked and he moved closer to the light. When he was about seven paces away, the Keyblade appeared in his hand and pulled itself horizontal. Then, just as the two times before, it shot a beam of glowing blue light into the Keyhole shape in the wall. The light went supernova for moment before fading into emptiness and leaving behind nothing but a small "click".

Jaden looked to Tor who sighed and showed relief. He nodded to Jaden and moved over to the stone wall, right beside where the Keyhole had been. He pushed on a small block of stone that looked slightly different than the rest. The stone made a slight hissing sound and popped out of the wall. Tor reached into the new hole and drew out two objects. The first, he walked over to Daffy and placed it in his feathered hand.

"A Gummi!" Daffy declared with wide eyes.

Porky sighed sadly, "But it's sure not the King's..."

"It isn't like any of the other Gummi's, though..." Daffy trailed off thoughtfully.

Jaden walked up behind the two creatures, "Maybe Joey or Tristan will know? Why don't we check back to Traverse Town next?"

Both his friends nodded as Daffy placed the Gummi block in a pocket on his vest.

"Jaden, Tor. Friends." Tor suddenly spoke up and pointed to him, and then to Jaden. Jaden nodded and smiled.

Tor smiled back and handed Jaden the other item he had taken from the cavity in the wall. It was a small pendant of a glowing blue butterfly with a green chain running from it's tip.

Tor pointed ambiguously to Jaden's Keyblade.

Jaden looked down at the silver and gold Keyblade in his right hand and found his eyes drawn to the chain dangling from the bottom of the hilt. He began to think. He slipped the chain that Tor had given him onto the hilt, and then proceeded to remove the chain of the King's symbol and pocketed it.

There was a small flash of the light and the Keyblade changed.

It's handle was now wrapped in brown leather, and the hilt circling it was what felt like wood, but it seemed much stronger, wrapped in more leather. Two sharp spikes protruded on the hilt on either side of the blade. As for the blade itself, a long shaft of what still looked to be wood was what it had morphed into. Five spikes of sharp wood stood out from the tip of the blade.

Jaden's eyes widened at the transformation. So these chains changed the look and feel of the Keyblade. Maybe they also made it more powerful?

Jaden smiled, "Thanks Tor."

Tor nodded and walked over next to Velma.

"Well, I guess we better be leaving now." Porky began to make his way out of the cave, soon followed by Daffy.

Jaden said goodbye to Velma and Tor and wished them the best. Velma asked him a few more questions about Daffy and Porky, which Jaden answered to the best of his abilities. He waved goodbye and followed after his friends.

Outside, it had cleared completely, even the drizzle of rain now gone. The sky was a backdrop of pink and orange hues cut straight through by a rainbow, stretching out toward the ocean.

As Jaden moved out of earshot of the Waterfall Cavern, he heard one final thing. The sound of Tor whispering in some form of clarity...

"Friends in our Souls."

Yubel looked out into the darkness of the Castle Chapel. Her allies, although she preferred to call them 'followers', were gathered around a small stone podium. She detested these people, utterly and completely. But each, unfortunately, offered a valuable piece of the puzzle and to the ultimate prize.

The witch waved her green-tipped staff and the image of the young Keyblade bearer and his companions vanished from the stone table in front of her.

"Whatever drew the Soulless to that world?" Pyjamarama sneered in his lofty accent. The arrogant fool probably thought such a world would be beneath even the Soulless. Yubel kept an even face.

"The hunter lured them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait." she allowed a small smirk to grow on her face, "But it seems the bait was too tasty for its own good."

"Yeah," Boogie Man's deep voice laughed heartily, "He got chomped instead."

That obese bag of bugs, always enjoying every ounce of entertainment that could be gleaned from any violent act. She could probably kill one of the followers here, Yubel thought, and Boogie Man was sure to laugh and maybe ask for refreshments. Imbecile. It would be his undoing one day.

"A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Soulless." Pyjamarama continued on as if Boogie had not spoken, "But the boy is a problem. He has found the Keyholes."

Yubel shook her head slightly, "Fear not, it will take him ages to find the rest..." her small black pupils slanted, "Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."

"Yes...the Princesses..." Him's deep voice came from the darkness. Rightly so, Yubel thought, she could scarcely bear to even look at the Witch.

"They are falling into our hands, one by one..." Yubel allowed the smirk to grow wider as she waved her staff and a small casket-like device with a glass top floated out. It was designated by writing at it's foot as "The Fourth Princess"

Inside lay a young girl who looked to be asleep, long blonde hair held back with a bow. She had been changed from the clothes she had been captured in to a long pink and white dress, simple in design, with two small straps holding it up. All befitting of a Princess.

Blissfully unaware, indeed.

* * *

><p><strong>*Hey, everyone. Here's some random side notes to inform you all.<strong>

_**TRIVIA:**_

_**-Him is a antagonist from the Powerpuff Girls.**_

_**-Boogie Man is a antagonist from the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.**_

_**Thanks for reading!  
><strong>_


	10. Chapter IX: The Mystery of Traverse Town

**Chapter IX: The Mystery from Traverse Town**

_Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by soul and his friends can only read the title._

_~Virginia Woolf_

Upon landing back in Traverse Town, our trio of heroes made their way to Tristan's Shop in the Main District. Aside from saving a few Kuribohs (strange little white creatures with red balloon-like projections on their heads) from some Shadow Soulless, they found no difficulties.

As soon as he entered Tristan's brightly-lit store, Jaden flinched at the sound of something falling that echoed across the room. He noticed that a small doll had fallen off of a shelf on the far side of the Shop. Tristan was nowhere in sight.

Sniffles, who was continually working on what he called his "Journal", a diary of the group's adventures, poked his head out of Jaden's pocket to see what had disturbed him from his work. When the mouse's small eyes fell upon the crumpled doll, he jumped to the ground in excitement and ran over to the fallen item.

"Well, well, as I live and breath! If it isn't Robot Jones!" Snuffles bounced happily.

What followed, much to Jaden, Daffy and Porky's surprise, was that the robot who had appeared immobile suddenly jumped to it's feet. It resembled a young boy, grey head with a see through bulb inside, yellow eyes and red and black shirt, with spike looking boots. Then, surprises of surprises, the boy spoke.

"Oh, uh, Hi Snuffles!" he greeted, seeming slightly nervous, "The man with the cigarette. He wouldn't believe I was a real boy, so he, uh, put me up on the shelf! I was just escaping." Jaden noticed that Robot Jones's bulb seemed to increase a little at this. Probably just a trick of the light.

"What were you doing, Jones?" Snuffles questioned, his tiny mouse brow furrowed.

"I was...uh...playing hide and go seek!" Robot Jones replied proudly. This time it was quite evident to Jaden that the boy's head had gotten bigger. Weird.

"And to think, I was worried about-" Snuffles ceased his rant, noticing the sudden expansion of the boy's bulb "Robot Jones, are you telling me the truth?"

"Um...yes?" Robot Jones replied. His head grew bigger. It was now about the size of the Keyblade's hilt. Jaden found this a slightly creepy and altogether surreal. He briefly wondered why he felt this, considering all the others strange things he had seen in his journey.

"Robot Jones!" Snuffles admonished as he shook his head, "Your lie is as plain as the bulb in your head! Tell me the truth!"

"I was...uhhh...borrowing the man's stuff..." Robot Jones looked at the ground and shuffled his brown wooden shoes.

"Borrowing?" Snuffles' eyes widened in horror, "You mean stealing!"

"Uhhhh..." Robot Jones was about to say something, but Snuffles interrupted him.

"Robot Jones! You know that you promised Prof. Utonium you'd be good so you'd become a real boy!" Jaden had no idea who this Utonium was, Daffy and Porky looking equally lost. They all shrugged and continued to watch the conversation unfold.

"Oh!" Robot Jones took this chance to change the subject. "Do you know where Father is?" So Utonium was the wooden boy's father? Jaden wasn't sure how that worked, but he noted that the boy's elongated head seemed to be slowly returning to it's original size.

Snuffles took the bait, "He's not with you?"

Robot Jones shook his head, "Snuffles! Let's go find Father!"

"Woah now, hold on!" Snuffles waved his hands, "There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Utonium, so you just wait here." Snuffles pointed to Jaden, Daffy and Porky, "These fellows here will be helping me."

Daffy balked at this, "We will?"

Jaden put his hands behind his head and looked at the ceiling, grinning knowingly. He knew what was coming.

"Well, shall we go, Jaden?" Snuffles ignored Daffy.

"Wait just a minute here, we can't keep taking on missions!" Daffy shook his fists, "We've got enough to do already!"

"Aw, c'mon Daffy! Snuffles here does so much for us!" Porky pleaded.

"He just writes in a stupid book.." Daffy muttered under his breath before sighing and looking away, still muttering,"He could've at least asked us first..."

"Let's go find Tristan." Jaden rolled his eyes at his friends. Taking on another mission was just fine with him, as long as it didn't take away from looking for Alexis and Zane.

But, even if it did, he would probably be willing to at least try anyway.

At that moment, Tristan kicked open a door on the left wall of the Shop. The building shook and a few potions and weapons fell to the ground. In Tristan's right hand he had balanced a steaming bowl of noodles, which he was in the middle of eating with the pair of chopsticks in his left hand.

"Well, speak of the devil!" he smiled, "Me and Joey was just talkin' 'bout you guys!"

"Hey Tristan!" Jaden greeted, "Speaking of Joey, you know where he is? We need to talk to him."

"Sure do, he should be at the Underground Waterway. He trains there. Easiest way is the Alleyway in the Second District." He slurped up some noodles, "Through the water tunnels at the far end. You might need to swim a bit."

Jaden wondered briefly how that was the "easiest" way, but nodded thanks anyway.

"Oh, by the way Tristan, can you watch that, uh, robot-boy over there? He's needs someone like you to keep track of him!" Jaden smiled and waved before disappearing out into the town with his friends, before Tristan's slackened jaw could voice any objections.

"-and then Tor gave us this gummi and we came back here to ask you about it!" Jaden took a deep breath as he finished his long, run-on-sentence tale. He, Daffy and Porky now sat around a small, warming fire Joey had set up. The trio had found Joey just where Tristan had said he would be: through a shallow stream of water that flowed under the town to a the rock shore cavern where Joey trained. Daffy, Porky and Jaden had found their way in through a grate in the Alleyway and by swimming through yards of deep, dark, underground water. Soon enough, they had fallen out into a large, open area lit by a glowing lantern. There they had found Joey swinging his gunblade against imaginary foes. When he had noticed them, Joey had leaned his sword against his shoulder, panting, and told them that next time, there was a door they could've gone through. Tristan had apparently either forgotten about it, or he had just felt like being a nuisance at that moment. Joey had guessed the latter.

"So..." Joey stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Ya found the Keyholes..."

"Yeah, the Keyblade locked them automatically." Jaden restated.

Joey nodded,"Hm, aight. Every world in the stars had a Keyhole," he explained, "And each one leads to the soul of that world." he looked off into the distance, "There must be one in this town as well..."

"What do you mean?" Jaden looked at him oddly, "The soul of a world? "

"It was in Solomon's report." came a soft voice from behind.

Jaden turned to find a woman who carried a towel hooked over one arm. In the other was gripped a platter with a glass of water set precariously on it. The woman herself had bright brown eyes and long brown hair. Three tiny little bangs of her brown locks hung together on the middle of her face. She wore a blue shorts and a pink white shirt. On her feet were tennis shoes. Apparently she didn't care for the image when it came to having good and useful footwear. She seemed to exude a calming, peaceful atmosphere that came from a small, warming smile that graced her lips.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Jaden, my name is Serenity Wheeler." the woman smiled, "I'm sorry that I don't have anything to offer you, but I was only planning on Joey."

"You already know my name, but it's great to meet you, Serenity. This is Daffy and Porky." Jaden pointed to his two friends.

"We already -me-a-me- met her, Jaden!" Porky smiled proudly and waved at Serenity. Forgetting she held a glass of water in one hand, Serenity waved back, nearly spilling it.

"They found the Keyholes, Serenity." Joey broke into the introductions, after Serenity had performed some daring maneuvers to stop the cup from tipping.

"So what was in Solomon's report, again?" Jaden asked, remembering Joey and Téa talking about it when they had first met.

"The Soulless...they enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core." Serenity's face fell, "It's terrible...poor people.."

"Oh meh meh my my my, what happens to the worlds?" Porky's eyes widened.

Serenity looked at the ground, unable to speak, and Joey finally grunted, "In the end, they disappear."

"What!" The Keyblade Master and his two friends jumped to their feet and yelled in unison. So that's what had happened to the Islands, and almost to Deep Jungle!

"That's why your Keyblade is so important." Joey looked Jaden in the eye.

Serenity finally looked up at Jaden, as well, "Please, lock the Keyholes...you're the only one who can."

"Find them, Jaden. And then lock them for good." Joey continued to stare down Jaden.

"Besides...Téa told me about your friends...if you go around seeing other worlds and locking them..." a ghost of a smile appeared back on Serenity's face, "Maybe you'll find your friends!"

For Jaden, there was no question. No argument. He had to lock the Keyholes. He couldn't just let the Soulless take worlds into darkness like they had his.

And Serenity was right, he could look for Zane and Alexis at the same time.

"Of course I'll lock them! Right guys?" Jaden turned and to Daffy and Porky.

Porky nodded emphatically, "Yup, 'course we will!" Daffy was a little less eager, but not terribly so, agreeing nonetheless.

"It's what the Rabbit would want." he said.

Serenity smiled happily and Joey sipped the water Serenity had handed to him.

"Anyways, Joey, this Gummi Block is different than the others...do you know what it's for?" Jaden tossed the block over to Joey who caught it with a snap of his hand. He looked at it for a moment and said nothing before throwing it back to Jaden.

"Ask Tristan," Serenity shook her head, "He should know."

Jaden nodded and and stood up to leave, but Joey stopped with a hand.

"Wait, Jaden, take this with you." Joey reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small green sphere, which he dropped into Jaden's outstretched hand. "I found this a little while after you left, I think it might be able to help you."

"With what?" Jaden looked at the small sphere than seemed to emanate with a lime glow of it's own.

Joey was again silent.

Serenity giggled and looked at Jaden, "I guess that means you'll find out."

Upon entering Tristan's accessory shop for the second time, Jaden and friends were met with the odd, and slightly unsettling, sight of Tristan spread out on the floor, open and unopened boxes of noodles surrounding him. The shelves of his shop seemed to have rebelled; odds and ends were hanging off the ones that actual still sat horizontal. The rest had piles of items, potions, weapons, and food, lying in heaps at the slanted end. Cabinet doors were swung open, the items inside strewn about. Tristan himself seemed to be asleep. His white shirt was ripped and stained, his goggles that had once sat on his forehead now hung around his neck. An empty pack of cigarettes was clutched in his left hand.

Daffy waddled over and jumped on the man's chest.

"Wake up, Tristan!" the duck yelled.

Tristan immediately jolted awake, a fear in his eyes that no living man should ever feel. His head flew first left, then right, scanning the area for an invisible tormentor. Immediately, this put Jaden on the guard for an attack of whatever had done this to Tristan and his shop. He quietly crept over to the now-sitting Tristan.

"Tristan, did the Soulless attack? Is that what happened?" Jaden looked around again for any sign of the small shadows.

"N—N—No..." Tristan shuddered and whispered, "But shut the hell up, will ya? Don't wake 'im!" he pointed over to the crackling fireplace. Beside it sat the sleeping form of Robot Jones.

"Jones!" Daffy looked back at Tristan, "Jones did this?"

"Shaddap!" Tristan grunted and looked in fear at the small robot. "Why'd you guys go and leave the little f***er with me anyways?"

"We...uh...didn't know he'd do this..." Jaden said, still shocked at the damages.

"Hey Tristan," Porky tiptoed over and whispered, "We got this here Gummi Block...can yah tell us what it does?"

"You're kiddin' me!" Tristan whispered, shocked, and rolled his eyes, "You're flyin' a gummi ship and you don't know nothin' about Navi Gummis?" he scowled, "Bunch of f***ing pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."

Daffy jaw worked up and down for a moment, before starting to speak, a bit more loudly than Tristan would've liked, "There's a lot we don't know, so what!" Tristan's eyes widened as he looked at Robot Jones. Daffy continued his rant, "We have to use the Gummi Ship-"

"Whoa!" Tristan motioned with his hands for quiet, "Easy! Sorry..." Robot Jones shifted in his sleep and Tristan froze. "Please..." he whispered, "When you're done you gotta take him, kid! Please! He's worse than Téa 10 years ago!" Tristan fell on his face, "And that's saying a hell of a lot!"

Jaden rolled his eyes at Tristan and smiled, "Maybe you could get Téa to come and play with him?"

When Jaden had seen Tristan's eyes earlier, he had thought that those eyes could've shown no more fear. But now, Jaden found himself to be wrong. Tristan looked like his was dying inside.

"Uhhhh..." Jaden hadn't expected that, he quickly grabbed the Gummi from Porky and handed it to Tristan, "So can you tell us what this Gummi is for?"

Talk of the Gummi seemed to snap Tristan from his imaginations of what Téa and Robot Jones would be like, combined. "Basically, with Navi Gummis, you can get to new places..." Tristan began to feel around on his head for his goggles to no avail. Jaden pointed out that they had fallen to his neck. Tristan grunted and pulled them up over his eyes, "Y'see, in interspace, there are walls of energy just hangin' around. You try to go through one and, bang, you're dead." Tristan stopped his examination of the gummi to take a quick look at Robot Jones. "A Navi Gummi let's you go through those walls like they're jello by bendin' the space around your ship and creating a hole to go through." he looked up from the Gummi, "You want one on your ship, amiright?"

Jaden nodded.

"I'll install it for you," Tristan whispered as he pocketed the small block, "But I gotta deliver something first..." Tristan rifled around the shop quietly, attempting to find the item in question. Every now and then he would check on Robot Jones' situation.

"Whadda you need to deliver?" Porky asked quietly, hands cupped around his mouth.

"A Book. Real old book," Tristan stepped silently over the counter to look beneath it, "When the old man brought it in, it was practically fallin' apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But..." Tristan suddenly reached down and held up a small brown book triumphantly, "Overall, I did a damn well decent job puttin' it back together." he stepped back over the counter, "Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the crazy old house in the Third District. Crazy just like the old loon that lives in it." Tristan spun his pointer finger around his head, indicating insanity, and handed the book to Jaden, along with a satchel to carry it in. "Just look for the fire sign."

Abruptly, a sudden tolling of a bell was heard. The deep, ground-shaking ring of a large bell.

"What was that?" Daffy quacked, surprised. Tristan didn't answer at first, he was frozen, looking at Robot Jones. Presently, Robot Jones turned over and continued to sleep.

Zane sighed, "That was the Gizmo Tower Bell...don't know much 'bout it. But I don't think I've ever heard it ring..." Zane stroked his chin, "You go deliver that book, I'm gonna go find the gang...that bell ringing might not be a good thing."

Jaden and Company turned and began to walk through the door, careful to not make much noise.

"While you're there..." Tristan called silently after them, "ask the old coot 'bout the Bell. He might tell ya something..."

The trio nodded and quietly shut the door behind them.

After pushing through the door with the fire sign, found with minimal amount of trouble, Jaden saw that they were inside of a circular, tower-like, stone room. In the center, a raised circle stood out from the floor to about Daffy's height, with steps circling around it. The room reminded Jaden of the stone at the Waterfall Cavern in Deep Jungle. In fact, it actually reminded him of the Abandoned Dorm...wait, Alexis?

Jaden was unable to finish his thought because suddenly stood before him Alexis, staring out a rounded window that looked out over a small, dark lake outside Traverse Town. The world slowed to a crawl for Jaden. Alexis was here? But, then again, he had seen Alexis in Deep Jungle and hadn't found her. Was he going insane? He quickly tore his gaze from Alexis and looked over at Daffy and Porky, seeing if they saw what he saw. They weren't paying attention. Porky was looking out another, identical, window on the other side of the room. Daffy waited impatiently beside him, back turned. Jaden would've called for them, but words seemed to catch in his throat.

"You know...there's something about this musty place..." Jaden turned back, watching Alexis run her hand along the stone wall. "It reminds me of the Abandoned Dorm back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?" she giggled at an unnamed memory and Jaden nodded, a slight smile coming across his face, finding her laugh somewhat alike to water for a desert traveler, imbuing his soul with new hope. Alexis smiled at him, the kind of smile one shows when they know something the other does not. "I know you can do it. I really do."

Jaden was about to ask her what she meant, and why she kept appearing and disappearing, when Porky called over to him, sounding concerned. Jaden looked to Porky for just one split-second, before looking back to find Alexis gone. The world resumed it's normal pace. Where had she-?

Suddenly, Jaden heard the door creak and slide open,"Well, well, well...you've arrived sooner than expected!" came a elderly voice.

Jaden turned to find an old man, about Porky's height, with a pointy blue hat and a blue cloak swirling around his small body. The man had one of the longest beards Jaden had ever seen, perfectly white with small dabbles of silver that reached down to the man's thighs. In his left hand he held a small traveling case. A pair of spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose.

"What? So you knew we were coming?" Daffy jumped in surprise at the man's sudden appearance.

"But of course!" the man smiled as he placed the traveling bag on the ground.

Jaden's eyes narrowed, a bit suspicious over Alexis' sudden disappearance, "Are you...a Soulless?"

Daffy looked at the old man closely, poking him in the leg. "Doesn't look like one..."

"Goodness, no!" the man swatted Daffy away as he began to unzip his bag,

"Then," Porky snapped his fingers."You're the old loon that Tristan mentioned!"

The man stopped his unzipping and froze, before standing straight and stamping his foot, "Old Loon? The nerve of that man! How dare he!" the blue-garbed individual sighed and shook his head, proceeding to brush his cloak off, "My name is Magoo. As you might have ascertained, I am a sorcerer. A Wizard. I spend much of my time traveling, but it's good to be...home..." he finished rather reluctantly and looked at Daffy and Porky, "Your King has requested my help, you know."

"King Bugs!" Porky said excitedly.

"Do you know where he is?" Daffy asked.

"One and the same, and no. I'm quite sorry." Magoo pointed to the two Castle residents, "Daffy, Porkyy...but who might you be, young man?"

"I'm Jaden."

"Hah! The Keybearer!" Magoo chortled. "A pleasure to meet you, young man!"

Daffy, ever the impatient one, broke in, "So what did the King ask you to do?"

"Just a moment..." Magoo waved his hands about, "Presto!"

At his call, the wizard's bag flopped open of it's own accord and out from it flew first a tiny table. The table gradually grew larger and larger, much to Jaden's surprise. Next came a China Tea Set, followed by a green high-back chair. After that came piles and piles of books, followed by a bed, a fireplace, and a couple of stands to set books on and such things like it. In a few short moments, the room had been transformed from a dark and cold stone building, to a warm and inviting study filled with piles of reading material, and a crackling hearth burning away.

"There now, ahem." Magoo plopped down in chair, "Your King asks that I teach you a few tricks. Magic ones to be precise."

"Well, first..." Jaden took the bag he had slung over his shoulder and pulled out the battered book he had been ordered to deliver, "Tristan asked me to bring you this book..."

"Oh? So he finally finished restoring it?" Magoo reached out his hand and levitated it from Jaden's grasp, causing the boy to jump. "Took his time, didn't he? This book somehow found its way into my bag one day, such a curious thing...I asked Tristan to repair it for me." He opened the book's cover and his eyebrows shot up to meet his pointy hat, "Now, what's this? This can't be right! There are pages missing!" Magoo turned the book so Jaden, Daffy and Porky could see and, sure enough, small stubs of pages hung onto the binding, the first five or so pages missing.

"Tristan did mention something about not being able to restore is back to the way it was..." Jaden thought back to the Accessory Shop.

"I'm sure he did..." Magoo muttered to himself, "The pages were very likely lost somewhere..." the sorcerer closed the book with a small thump and looked up to Jaden, "It may be a long shot, my dear boy, but if you ever run into any pages in your adventures that look like they could belong to this book, please bring them back here."

Jaden nodded. Why not.

"Oh, and about that stone that Joey gave you..." Magoo pointed to Jaden's pocket. Jaden stared at the old man in surprise, "Yes, the one in your pocket. It's called a Summon Charm. You can use it in battle to summon a creature to aid you..." Magoo's face took on a sad look, "The poor thing was turned into a charm when it's world was taken by the Soulless."

"Is there any way to get the world back?" Jaden wondered as he pulled the charm from his pocket, "To get this guy back to his original self?"

Magoo looked away for a second and seemed to be swallowing a painful memory, "Not...not to my knowledge..." he spoke in a soft, faraway voice, "But...I'll try. For now, the best you can do for it is use it."

"Gotcha," Jaden nodded and deposited the green orb back into his pocket, "By the way, did you hear the bell ring?"

Magoo's eyes widened, "The bell? The Gizmo Tower Bell?" Jaden affirmed this with a nod, but Magoo didn't see the gesture. The wizard was too busy rifling through a pile of books that had floated to his table. "Hmmm..." he hummed as he leaned back with one book in particular. "That bell, young man, has not rang in the seven years I have lived here. I'm not sure what it could mean...but, according to this record, it isn't good." Magoo dropped the book into his lap, "The book mentions that it is the harbinger of something to do with a 'key' and a 'dark force'...you might want to check out the Gizmo Tower...I suppose the Magic training will have to wait."

Daffy and Porky looked at Jaden and nodded before running out the door. Jaden was about to follow , but he hung behind for a moment, scuffing his foot on the floor beside Magoo's stone pedestal.

"Hm? Do you need something, my young friend?" Magoo took out a small pipe, lit it with a snap of his bony fingers, and took a deep puff.

"Uh...Magoo...I've been.." Jaden began hesitantly, "Seeing this girl...this girl who used to live with me on my Island before they...were destroyed,"

Magoo sighed with sympathy, "I'm quite sorry about your home, Jaden...I know what it's like to lose one."

Jaden nodded and continued, "Well...this girl...I keep seeing her...I saw her in Deep Jungle, but I never found her...I just saw her here before you came in but-but-" Jaden choked up a bit, but only just a bit, "Then she just disappeared again...and I don't understand why..."

Magoo smiled tiredly and took another puff, "This girl...you are quite fond of her, no?"

"Wha-? I—I-" Jaden stuttered and suddenly found his overly-large, red shoes quite interesting.

"It's perfectly alright," Magoo chuckled, "But as for your predicament...well, I can't say much beyond it being an interesting phenomena and that I'll look into it."

JJaden looked a little relieved, sighed, and turned to leave, "Thanks, Magoo."

"But..." Magoo began as he lifted himself from his chair, "I can promise you this, Jaden...If she means that much to you in here." Magoo walked up to Jaden and put his hand on the young boy's chest, "Then you'll find her out there. With the power you wield, I can promise you that."

Jaden blushed and grinned, "Thanks, Magoo."

Magoo ruffled his hair. "Now go on after your friends. The Town might be needing you right now!" Jaden nodded and ran out the door after his friends, slamming it loudly behind him.

Magoo stared at the closed door for moment, slowly puffing on his pipe. Interesting indeed. The old wizard turned, picked up a book, and wandered back to his chair. Quite interesting. That boy was special, no doubt about it. He would find his lady-friend, and perhaps save the Worlds while he's at it. The power he held in that Keyblade...Magoo hadn't sensed that much power in one so young since the old days. Since the young man that had lived in the Castle, under the household of the Lord Protector.

This Jaden was something special indeed.

Magoo had been right, Jaden thought, he would find Alexis. But, the elderly sorcerer had made him think...what did Alexis mean to him? She was his best friend, along with Zane...she was a confidant of his when Zane was too busy with himself to speak to. She was...his friend, and that meant the world to him. Was she something more? —oh, look, Soulless.

Jaden, Daffy and Porky had just exited the alleyway that led to Magoo's house when two or three shadow soulless materialized before them in a swell of dark energy. Jaden called the Jungle Keyblade to hand, prepared for an easy fight, when the couple soulless disappeared in a puff of darkness, no sooner than they had appeared.

"There you are! Finally! What's going on?" announced a confident voice.

Jaden turned and found none other than Zane standing before him. Talking to him. Zane? The real Zane! Or, at least, Jaden thought it was the real Zane.

Just to be sure, the Keyblade Master ran up and poked Zane a few times in the chest, and pinched his arm.

Zane rose an eyebrow to this, before swatting his friend away.

"I'm not—I'm not dreaming this time? Right?" Jaden stood back and asked Zane anxiously.

"I hope not." Zane rolled his mint eyes and pushed some of his silver hair to the side, "Took forever to find you."

Jaden gave a victory jump in the air, "Hah! Zane!" Jaden took a breath and smiled. They had found Zane. Finally. Finally, finally, finally! One best friend down, one to go. "So do you know where Alexis is?" Jaden asked, still smiling infectiously.

Zane's left cheek twitched at Jaden's question, but no one took note. "I thought...isn't she with you?"

Jaden's grin became downcast.

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island, too." Zane cheered and looked up into the eternally night sky of Traverse Town, "We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now-"

All of the sudden, Jaden noticed a small soulless appear behind Zane. The older boy didn't seem to notice.

"-Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this-" Zane stopped speaking when he heard the sound of dissipating smoke, and looked to see Jaden no longer standing in front of him, but behind him instead. The mist of a destroyed Soulless floated up, diluting into the air.

Jaden smiled and leaned the Jungle Keyblade on his shoulder, "Leave it to who...?"

"Jaden! What did you-" Zane appeared taken aback.

"I've been looking for you and Alexis, too." Jaen pointed the Keyblade in Daffy and Porky's direction, "with their help."

Zane, apparently noticing Daffy and Porky for the first time, looked at them oddly, before pulling Jaden aside. "Okay, Jaden, I'm going to be completely level with you...what the heck are those guys? They look like, well, a duck and a pig. Walking normally." Jaden nodded. "And they probably talk, too?" Again, Jaden nodded. "And you see nothing strange with this picture?"

"Nope."

Zane snorted. "You wouldn't."

"They're my friends, Zane, they've helped me a lot"

Zane looked over Jaden's shoulder at the two beings.. "Uhuh. So do you guys have names?"

Daffy a hemmed and puffed out his chest, "My name is-"

"It's Daffy, the taller-"

"Height challenged!" Daffy interrupted with a wave of his feathered finger.

"-one. The other one is Porky. Guys, this is Zane!" Jaden finished the introductions.

"Oh my, Zane, it's nice to finally meetcha!" Porky smiled. Daffy mumbled a hello.

Jaden looked back at Zane, "We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you."

"Really?" Zane leaned back and smirked at Jaden with the slightest pride evident on his face, "Hm, I never would've guessed."

Before Jaden could ask what that might've meant, Porky walked behind him and clapped him hard on the shoulder, "And guess what! Jaden here's the Keyblade Master!"

Daffy rolled his eyes and coughed.

"So this is called a Keyblade?" Zane remarked as he studied the blade in his hand.

"Wait...what?" Jaden looked at his hand and saw that Zane had somehow taken the Keyblade. How had he done that? "Give it back!" Jaden jumped at Zane with hands outstretched.

Zane paid him no head, stepping to his left and out of the way of Jaden's leap, continuing to glance over the Jungle Keyblade.

"Urgh..." Jaden rubbed his head as he sat up from his fall.

Zane shrugged and tossed the Keyblade back to Jaden's sitting form, "Catch."

"Okay," Jaden stood to his feet, not missing a beat, he was used to this. Just like old times. "Okay, so you're coming with us, right? We have this awesome space ship!" Jaden waved his hands around, "Wait till you see it!"

Daffy stamped his foot. "No! He can't come!"

"What?" Jaden whipped around to face the duck. "Why not?"

Daffy shook his head, "Forget it!"

Jaden was ready to point the Keyblade at the mage and demand Zane come with them. Why did Daffy always have to be like this? "Oh, come on! He's my friend!"

"I don't care." Daffy crossed his arms and looked away.

"Huh? He's gone!" Porky noted.

Finding Porky correctly, Jaden immediately forgot his argument with Daffy and frantically began searching the area. Zane was nowhere to be seen. Impossible! He had just been there! "Zane?" Jaden timidly questioned the emptiness of the Third District. Zane was simply gone. Why did this seem to happen to all his friends?

Jaden wandered back to where Daffy and Porky were waiting and sighed, "Oh well, at least he's okay..." Jaden leaned his arms behind his head, "And who knows...Maybe we'll run into Alexis soon too!"

For real this time.

Zane reappeared in tendrils of darkness atop a building above the Third District. He watched as Jaden and his new friends wandered away. Hmmm...she hadn't told him Jaden had gotten the Keyblade...she had mentioned these new friends of his, however, and as much as he didn't want to admit it, she seemed to be right.

Had Jaden simply replaced him? Simply moved on from the Island?

Zane's eyes narrowed, if there was one thing he could not stand, it was being put to the side. Ignored.

But somewhere deep inside, he still held out hope that he was wrong.

When the group reached the Second District, they found that Tristan had made good on his word and gathered everyone. Joey, with his gunblade leaning over on his shoulder; Téa, absent-mindlessly spinning her four-pointed shuriken rapidly in her hands; Serenity, standing, hands clasped behind her, looking up to the top of the Gizmo Tower, and Tristan himself standing beside Joey, leaning on his large javelin.

"Hoh! Hey, kid, you just in time!" Tristan yelled from across the plaza.

Jaden nodded and jogged over to the group.

"We miss anything?" he questioned as he slid to a stop beside Joey.

Téa sighed, showing her impatience, "Yup. A whole lotta nothing."

Serenity blinked and seemed to notice Jaden for the first time, "Nice to see you, Ja-" suddenly, Serenity pitched forward and began to fall. Luckily, Téa was naturally fast and caught her before she hit the ground.

"You okay, Serenity?" Porky asked, concerned.

"I-I'm okay...I just have a small headache...lost my balance there." she giggled slightly and stood back up, "Thanks, Téa"

Téa smiled and nodded, "Anytime!"

"Serenity has always been able to sense impending danger," Joey leaned down and spoke to Jaden grimly, "It was a gift of her heritage. Side-effects are headaches and fainting spells when she senses those things."

Tristan leaned in as well,"There's the reason why Monkey-"

"It's Joey."

"Whatevah. Why Monkey even came. Serenity sensed danger."

Joey nodded, "She's never been wrong."

Jaden was about to ask more, when the bell chimed again and the texture of the Gizmo Tower began to change.

The tall building, originally being seamless white marble, seemed to melt and reform. It spun together into a swirling whirlpool of vertical white until it suddenly stopped, forming into the shape of a huge Keyhole. The utter black of the hole contrasted greatly with the pure white surrounding it on the Tower.

Before anyone could speak, or Jaden summon the Jungle Key, the huge body of the mechanical Guard Armor that Jaden, Daffy and Porky had fought before, crashed into the ground, falling from who knows how far. The stone where it's heavy feet landed bent inward, creating two huge potholes in the ground.

"Oh yeah! Here we go!" Téa said excitedly and ran toward the Armor and, before anyone could speak, had jumped in the air and thrown her large shuriken into the Armor's small head. It stabbed straight through the metal armor of the beast with a loud thunk. The soulless shook for a moment and collapsed to the ground in a heap of arms, legs and a torso. Téa rebounded off the Gizmo Tower wall and landed on her feet in front of the Armor.

"The Great Ninja Téa Gardner strikes again!" she fist-pumped and turned to the collapsed pile, pointing an accusing finger. "Hah! You've been officially owned!"

Everyone stared in shock at Téa's accomplishment for a moment. But, before Téa could even enjoy fifteen seconds of fame, the Armored Soulless seemed to magnetize itself back together. Except, its legs clicked, whirred and bent from feet-like devices, to hand like devices. Then, it's hands spun down and switched with the feet. The whole body clacked again and it's helmet crashed down, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes, pitted in a face of dark nothing.

"Oh...snap." Téa gasped as the dented head, with shuriken still attached, bent outward and ricocheted her shuriken into a nearby wall, lodging it firmly in place. No mark was left on the helmet.

"Porky!" Joey yelled as he lifted his gunblade from his shoulder, "Get Téa away from here!"

Porky nodded and ran to Téa. She was about to protest, but Téa's body flying past her, clutching her shuriken, silenced her. The young Ninja landed hard halfway across the plaza.

"It's alright! I'm alright!" Téa yelled, "I was just getting my shuriken back! See?" she held it up to prove that she had just been retrieving her precious weapon.

Joey rolled his eyes and turned back to the purple soulless which was slowly walking forward, becoming used to it's reversal. The huge claws, now on it's feet, gripped the ground firmly, ripping up stones as it clanked forward.

Jaden quickly summoned up the Jungle Key, as Daffy shot off a blast of thunder at the Soulless. The lighting crackled through it's body, but seemed to be grounded by it's feet. Or hands. Whatever.

Jaden ran forward and gave two quick slashes at the monster's left foot-hand. A few metallic fingers fell off onto the ground. The young Keyblade Master quickly rolled out of the way as the hand-feet spun rapidly around, hoping to catch it's attacker. During the action, Tristan had sneaked up behind the Soulless and had been able to stab it in the back with his long spear. The monster made a sound akin to a roar and shook violently, causing Tristan to release his grip on his spear and be sent careening into a wall.

Joey shot off a fireball at the dark face of the Armor, before jumping at it while the magic attack distracted it. He got off three fast cuts on the torso before having to use his feet to rebound off the purple-shell of the Soulless and out of it's reach. Jaden soon followed Joey's lead and did the same, after Daffy fired off a couple blizzards at the Armor's right hand-foot.

It was at this moment that Téa returned to the fight and threw her shuriken at the frozen right hand-foot, cutting it off at the shoulder. It fell to the ground with an empty clang.

Jaden took a small moment to look over at Tristan, who seemed to be recovering. Jaden concentrated on thoughts of home, of Zane, of the beach, of Alexis, and was able to conjure up a small cure spell on the rough mechanic. Tristan was able to stand again, and Jaden saw him reach into a pocket of his belt, before dizziness overtook the Keyblade Master. Jacen stumbled a little before Joey caught him around the shoulder.

"Jaden?" He questioned.

Jaden blinked and breathed hard, "Dizzy...from...using cure..."

Joey nodded and leapt, still gripping Jaden, out of the way of the Soulless' still remaining left hand-foot.

Suddenly, Jaden saw Joey's eyes widen and heard him yell for Tristan not do something.

Next thing he knew, a gulf of heat enveloped him as he heard a loud explosion. When Jaden was able to look at the mechanical Soulless, it's left hand-foot was gone, along with a large chunk of it's torso and it's left foot-hand. Tristan was smiling proudly.

"That was a new invention of mine! Special grenade!"

"Dammit, Tristan, my clothes are scorched now!" Téa grumbled as she looked down at her black jacket.

Tristan laughed, "Sorry, Téa, but I guess it's 'bout time for payback for the time you wrecked my motorcycle!"

"That wasn't my fault! You were the one who left the ignition on!"

The Soulless, unmoved till now, clanked forward on it's remaining leg.

"You've gotta be f***ing kidding me!" Tristan stepped back in surprise, "How the hell did it survive my grenade?"

"Maybe 'cause it don't work!" Téa stuck her tongue out at him. Tristan grumbled and quickly lit another cigarette.

"Is...it always like this?" Jaden groaned to Joey, his head still spinning.

Joey nodded before dropping Jaden to the ground, "Most of the time." the gunblade-wielding man quickly ran at the Soulless, and, not having much trouble dodging what was left of it, got behind the it and grabbed onto Tristan's spear. Using that, Joey swung himself upwards with a single hand. In one smooth slice, Joey severed the energy field between the head and the torso, causing the helmeted head to plummet to the ground with a smash. Joey completed the swing and landed on his feet, one hand supporting his landing.

The torso shook for a moment, before a blinding light grew from where it's head had connected, leading to the whole thing exploding in a large show of fireworks.

Jaden sighed in relief and pushed himself to his feet using the Jungle Key as support.

Téa ran over and offered a high-five to Joey.

"Nice going, Monkey Boy!"

"It's Joey." he unemotionally stated, keeping his hands by his side.

Téa rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, bringing it up to a high-five.

Porky and Serenity, who looked a lot better than the others did, soon emerged from beyond the far edge of plaza.

"Wonderful job everyone!" the blue shorted girl clapped her hands together before waving them about, casting a Cure spell over Jaden, immediately dissolving his dizziness.

"Serenity's also a master of Healing Magic." Joey explained.

With that, Jaden turned to the large, dark Keyhole in the tower. He lifted the Jungle Key and a large blue beam grew at the tip, shooting directly into the depths of the Keyhole. A click that shook the ground resulted, followed by the the dark hole dissolving in white light, leaving nothing but the clean marble tower again.

"Whoo-ee." Tristan admired, "That sure was something."

No one disagreed.

At that moment, Tristan stopped admiring the Tower, and his face changed to one of anger mixed with nervousness.

"Uh...did you guys see anything up there?" Tristan pointed to the top of the tower, "Like, a shadow or something?"

"Tristan..." Téa cocked her head, "How'd you see all the way up there?"

"I-I-I don't know. But I saw somethin' up there! Plain as day!" Tristan said, "And I think it was Yubel!"

Immediately, silence fell on the whole group like a blanket. Serenity seemed to be holding back tears, while Joey looked on stoically, although, if one looked close enough, one might have noticed his eyes betray some form of pain. Téa's lower lip quivered slightly and Tristan showed anger.

"Uh, who's Yubel?" Jaden looked at his friends, wondering what could have affected them so, "Guys? What's going on?"

"Hmmm...the King mentioned her once..." Daffy mused.

Porky nodded, "He sure did!"

Tristan looked Jaden in the eyes, "Yubel's a witch, kid, a witch! She got this big f***ing staff with a green tip and wears these big dark robes and has pointy black wings like the devil on her wings!" Tristan quickly lit another cigarette as his current one went out.

Joey looked off into the distance, "She's the reason this Town is so full of Soulless. Don't take her lightly."

Serenity spoke up,"She's...been using the Soulless for years...probably 10 years ago when we were teenagers."

"We lost our world, partly in thanks to her." Joey remarked, still unemotional.

Tristan leaned back against a wall, breathing in deeply. "One day, a swarm of Soulless took over our world! I tell ya, we shoulda seen that sh*t coming...what with Duke Dev-"

"Don't. Just please, don't." Serenity pleaded, "Don't mention him. Please."

Joey looked at Serenity with what might've been sympathy, had one known where to look for emotions in Joey Wheeler. "That was ten years ago."

Serenity swallowed, "Seven of us got off together, along with Magoo. Myself, Joey, Téa, and Tristan."

"You said seven." Daffy noted, "Who were the other three?"

Serenity nodded, "A girl named Vivian, a man named Duke, and one other: Kaiba"

Jaden started at the last name, "Kaiba? I met a Kaiba! I fought a Kaiba! He beat me!"

Serenity was surprised, "What did he look like?"

"Well..." Jaden through back to Lympics, "He had bow-cutted brown hair-"

"That's our Kaiba!" Téa smiled.

"Hm." Joey said, "So Kaiba was the one you fought in the Lympics."

Jaden nodded.

Serenity looked over at Joey, "Vivan will want to know."

Joey nodded, "We'll tell her."

"Thanks Jaden." Serenity looked back at the young Keyblade Master, "I think you'll made Vivian very happy, knowing Kaiba's okay."

"Big relief." Joey said.

Jaden grinned, "No problem!"

"But... there's one more person missing." Joey looked down in shame.

"Don't worry... we'll find him, Joey." Téa threw a big smile on her face.

Serenity smiled and continued her story, "The leader of our world was a great man named Solomon."

"The same Solomon who wrote them reports?" Porky asked.

"The same" Serenity nodded, "He was a great man, studying the world, leading his people for the King and Queen..." Serenity smiled, looking back on memories, "He always had time for the commoners...until, that is, he abruptly became a recluse. We never understood why." she frowned.

"What happened to him?" Jaden asked.

"We can only assume he died in the Soulless attack..." Serenity said sadly.

Téa rocked back and forth on her feet, "His report should tell us how to get rid of the Soulless."

"Uh, what happened to it, again?" Jaden wondered sheepishly, ashamed at having forgotten.

Serenity shrugged, "We don't know...it must have been scattered when our world was destroyed."

"I betcha Yubel's got most of the pages." Tristan grumbled and puffed heavily on his cigarette. "So you delivered that book?"

"What book?" Téa asked.

"Magoo's crazy old book." Tristan rolled his eyes.

Téa brushed a lock of hair from in front of her eyes, "The one he wanted you to fix?"

"That's the one!" Tristan replied.

"Yeah, he got it." Jaden nodded, "He was a nice guy."

Tristan laughed, "He's crazy! All his hocus-pocus. He's more than once messed up my shop and ship."

"Tristan!" Serenity admonished, "We all know Magoo's a great man! He's been like a father to all of us!"

"Except to you, Tristan. You're way too old!" Téa smiled and darted off before Tristan could reply.

"Damn Téa..." he grumbled. "Anyways, Your Navi Gummi's installed and ready to rock and roll."

Joey again watched as Jaden and his friends left Traverse Town. They'd already done so much. Maybe they could do what he had failed to do: Save the world.

His mind drifted to his and Jaden's earlier conversation in the cavern. Jaden had talked about this girl nonstop. A girl named Alexis. Joey had found this odd...he had known a Alexis once. They all had.

But she couldn't be the same one. Not in a million years.

Joey hoisted his gunblade onto his back and walked off with the rest of his, and he was hesitant to say it, his friends. He didn't deserve them.

Hm. Couldn't be the same Alexis.

But, then again, crazier things had happened

If Kaiba ever actually came back, Joey would have to ask him what exactly hadhappened that fateful night in the Castle. Only he still knew.

Tristan whistled jovially to himself as he entered his shop. Weird how all this turned out. Real strange stuff. They had all returned to their homes after visiting Vivian and Mokuba, giving them the news on Kaiba.

He took out another cigarette and lit it quickly.

Now, he would have to make another javelin...his has been destroyed in the explosion.

Shame really, it was a good one, too.

Well, at least he now knew that the grenade needed working on. Maybe if he tweaked the-

Oh. No Way.

"Sh*t!" Tristan muttered, cigarette tumbling out of his mouth as he noticed two important facts:

First, one of his Motorcycles, one of his babies, were gone. Just gone. Vanished. Poof. Goodbye.

Second, robot Jones was nowhere to be seen, nor found. Tristan was shocked.

"No f***in' way..."

Little did Tristan know, he had been right in what he saw at the Second District Plaza. Standing far, far above the ground, on the top-most point of the Gizmo Tower, was a woman dressed in dark robes with black wings jutting out of her head. Beside stood a tall boy with long dark green hair and mint-blue eyes.

"You see?" Yubel spoke slowly, "You saw it all yourself, and it is just as I told you is it not?" the witch held her staff out over the Town, "While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions." she placed her black-draped arm around the boy's shoulders, "Evidently, he now values them far more than he does you." she shook her head, "You're far better off without that wretched boy. Now, think no more of him and come with me...I'll help you find what you're searching for."

With a wave of the black, green-tipped staff, a small hologram of a young girl materialized. The girl seemed to be asleep. Her head was covered in honey, honey hair. She wore a white shirt, blue skorts, and a pair of blue shoes.

The boy looked at the girl, at the Witch beside him, and then out over the Town; betraying just a slightly perceptible nod.

Who was that man that Tristan was about to reference? Why did Serenity not want to hear about it? What do you think the pasts of these heroes might entail?

Who knows?

* * *

><p>In addition, now would be the perfect time to reiterate that in this "Epic of Kingdom Souls" I still need to find ideas for Birth By Sleep.<p>

And trust me, ladies and gentlemen, that particular story will be quite the trip. :D

Btw, Magoo is from the old cartoon, Mr. Magoo. I couldn't find ideas for a magician. So I decided to use him instead.

Now that I've finished all the re-writing, I return you to your regularly scheduled story while I go to write the Halloween Town chapter. Wewt.

Latersss!


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